BRB-AV points out that four of the 5 top ranked ODI batsmen in the world are captains. Coincidence, he asks, or is there some other explanation for it?
I am not sure myself, but I do know that there appears to be a shift in ODI brilliance away from openers (only 3 of the top 10 are openers), with the middle order finishers coming to the fore. The white ball does not do anything after the initial shine wears off, and with the mandatory change in balls after about 2/3rds of the innings, it is becoming difficult for bowlers to dislodge the entrenched batsmen. Once in a while, a demolisher like Ajantha Mendis disrupts the batsman's stranglehold but that is an exception rather than the rule. The golden age of ODI openers - Jayasuriya, Ganguly, Tendulkar, Gilchrist, et al, appears to be diminishing for now.
Currently, MS Dhoni is at the top. Siddharth Mongia traces the long path taken by Dhoni to get back to the top spot after a Sri Lankan bowler (no, not that one) embarrassed him during the 2007 World Cup.
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