Ashwin in top 20 of ODI bowling chart

Dubai: Following his consistent performance in the recent past, India`s R Ashwin broke into the top 20 of the ICC ODI bowling charts for the first time in his career, while batsman Virat Kohli moved one rung to be placed fourth in the latest ranking released on Wednesday.

Rohit Sharma, up 21 places to 35th, also improved thanks to his three half centuries in the ongoing series against the West Indies, but opener Gautam Gambhir lost seven places to be placed alongside South Africa`s JP Duminy at 19th position. With 620 points, Ashwin was ranked 18th, a jump of three places. The ever-improving Kohli has garnered 766 points and is placed alongside India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who has lost a place. South Africa`s Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers and Jonathan Trott continued to keep the top three spots. There was also good progress for West Indies` Ravi Rampaul in the bowling rankings who improved one place to 13th, while in batting those moving up included Lendl Simmons (up five spots to 25th), Darren Bravo (up 15 to 54th) and Andre Russell (up 34 to 76th). After his strong showing in the recent three-match series in Bangladesh, Pakistan`s Mohammad Hafeez gained six places in the latest rankings and now sits just 19 ratings points behind team-mate Saeed Ajmal, who heads the bowlers` list. Despite losing the series 3-0, Bangladesh`s Shakib Al Hasan was his usual self and his series figures of 4-90 earned him three places on the bowling rankings as he moved to seventh overall. PTI