Injury put pays to Tendulkar's chances to wrest top ranking

Skipping the tri-series in Bangladesh and subsequent Asia Cup in Pakistan will severely hamper second-placed Sachin Tendulkar's chances to clinch back the top-position in the ICC Player Rankings for the ODI batsmen.

Tendulkar, who conceded the spot to South Africa's Graeme Smith in April, may even fall below third-placed Ricky Ponting of Australia followed by Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf, if the two batsmen strike gold in their respective series.

Only 14 ratings points separate Tendulkar(777) from Yousuf.

Tendulkar is nursing a groin injury, which he suffered during the Test series against South Africa and missed first seven matches of the Indian Premier League.

However, there is a good opportunity for Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his deputy Yuvraj Singh to gain some places in the batting chart.

A string of good performances can help Dhoni break into the top-five as he trails fifth-placed Shivnarine Chanderpaul of the West Indies and Matthew Hayden of Australia by 12 ratings points.

Yuvraj can overtake 14th-placed Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka, who leads the India vice-captain by seven points.

In the Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, Pakistan's Shahid Afridi in 10th position is the highest-ranked bowler amongst the three participating team. Banned Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is at 18th place but he has not been selected for the event.

India's highest-ranked bowler in Harbhajan's absence is Irfan Pathan in 38th place while Sreesanth (49th), RP Singh (66th), Piyush Chawla (101st) and Ishant Sharma (106th) will also be hoping for an upward movement.