Aus top seeds for ICC Champions Trophy in Pak

The cut-off date for determination of seedings for the ICC event in September is March 12. But with only the finals of the tri-series remaining, the ICC ODI Championship table will remain same irrespective of how the finals pan out.

South Africa will be seeded second followed by New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, England and the West Indies in the eight-team tournament. The groupings will be announced on March 12.

If India win the tri-series finals 2-0, Ricky Ponting's side will drop to 127 ratings points, same as South Africa but ahead of Graeme Smith's side when the points are calculated beyond the decimal point.

In that case, India will join New Zealand on 113 points but will still remain fourth when the points are recalculated.

On the other hand, if Australia win the tri-series final 2-0, they will go to 132 ratings points with India staying on 110 points but still on fourth position ahead of Pakistan (109 points).

A 2-1 win for Australia would mean that the home team would finish on 130 points while India would return home on 111 ratings points.

Among batsmen, Dhoni remains at ninth while a sparkling 54-ball 63 against Sri Lanka saw Sachin Tendulkar improve three places and knocking the top ten doors at 11th, a position he shares with Australian Matthew Hayden.

Yuvraj Singh is in 17th after dropping one place while tri-series top scorer Gautam Gambhir is the most improved batsman after rising 10 places to 26th position.

Ponting leads the batsmen's list with Adam Gilchrist breathing down his neck in second place after rising four places. Gilchrist, who retires after this series, is just 32 points behind and has a realistic chance of signing off on top of the list.

Besides Gilchrist, Hayden is the only other Australia batsman to make some progress while Michael Clarke (fifth), Mike Hussey (seventh) and Andrew Symonds (14th) all slipped down the ladder.

Among ODI bowlers, India has no bowler in the top 10 with Harbhajan Singh ranked highest at 22nd. Irfan Pathan is in 30th place after climbing five spots while Ishant Sharma is 110th after gaining 27 places.

Meanwhile, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori's top position is under serious threat by second-placed Australia fast bowler Nathan Bracken who is just 12 points behind. A good performance in the tri-series finals can help him claim the coveted spot.

Bracken's team-mate Brett Lee has improved two places and now sits on fifth position while Mitchell Johnson is on 11th spot and could well break into the top 10 for the first time.