Tendulkar close to his lowest ODI rank

Dubai: Sachin Tendulkar, besides eyeing his 100th international century in the Asia Cup, will love to improve upon his ICC ranking for the ODI batsmen that is currently 29th, just two positions higher than his lowest of 31 in December 1991.

Tendulkar first reached the summit of ODI rankings in February 1996; however, the scorer of 51 centuries in Test cricket and 48 in ODIs hasn't reached the three-figure mark since the World Cup won by India last year.

It's not that Tendulkar has been going through a bad patch, as he has gone past the half-century mark consistently. But it seems the milestone of 100th international century is playing on his mind right since the 91 he scored in the Oval Test against England in August 2011. The batting legend again came close to achieving the landamark in the Sydney Test against Australia in January this year, but fell short by 20 runs.

Sachin is currently ranked 29th, just two positions higher than his lowest rank of 31 in December 1991.

So Tendulkar, who chose to play in the Asia Cup after a gruelling tour of Australia, will like to get the monkey off his back and not fall any lower in the ICC ODI rankings.

Other India batsmen, middle-order mainstay Virat Kohli and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who are currently positioned at third and fifth respectively in the batting chart, would also look to improve their standings in the ODI Players list during the Asia Cup.

(With PTI inputs)

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