Caribbean Times 97th Issue - Tuesday 14th February 2017

16 c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g
Tuesday 14th February 2017
Samuels, Narine top ODI rankings
DUBAI, United Arab
Emirates – Veteran batsman
Marlon Samuels and
off-spinner Sunil Narine
are the highest ranked West
Indies players in the latest
ICC One-Day International
rankings released at the
weekend.
The 36-year-old Samuels
lies 28th in the batting
rankings while Narine sits
third in the bowling rankings.
Samuels last featured
for West Indies in the
three-match series against
Pakistan last September/
October, gathering 116
runs at an average of 38, as
Sunil Narine
the Caribbean side lost all
three matches in the United
Arab Emirates.
He subsequently pulled
out of the Tri-Nations Series
against Sri Lanka and
hosts Zimbabwe the following
month, opting rather
to play in the Bangladesh
Premier League.
Left-hander Darren
Bravo, who was sent home
from the Tri-Nations because
of disciplinary reasons,
is the next highest
ranked Windies batsman
at 47th. He and Samuels
are the only two Caribbean
players in the top 50.
Australian stroke-mak-
Marlon Samuels
er David Warner tops the
rankings followed by South
Africa’s AB de Villiers and
Virat Kohli of India.
Narine, meanwhile, has
slipped to third in the bowling
rankings with South
Africa leg-spinner Imran
Tahir assuming the top spot
for the first time.
Narine played in the Pakistan
series last year with
little success and then withdrew
from the Tri-Nations
Series for personal reasons.
He has, however, not
played in the ongoing Regional
Super50 – the Caribbean’s
premier domestic
50-overs tournament which
serves as an eligibility requirement
for West Indies
ODI selection.
Captain and seamer Jason
Holder is ranked 15th
but he and Narine are the
only two Windies bowlers
in the top 50.
West Indies players
will have the chance to enhance
their standing as the
rankings are set to be revised
by the ICC immediately
following England’s
three-match ODI series in
the Caribbean next month.
(CMC)