Two Indians in top five at year-end

Sourav Ganguly, previous year's topper, and Sachin Tendulkar, previous year's runner-up, occupy the fourth and fifth spots respectively in the CEAT Cricket Ratings, as on December 31.

Ahead of them are the Zimbabwean Andy Flower and Sri Lankan Marvan Atapattu, who rank second and third respectively. Muthiah Muralitharan heads the list.

With a total tally of 72 points, Murali leads Andy Flower, his nearest rival, by 10 points.

Murali has been in outstanding form this CEAT year. His 13 wickets in the Galle Test against the South Africans in July enabled Sri Lanka to register a thumping win by an innings and 15 runs, and his spell of 7-30 against the Indians at Sharjah in October was the best-ever performance by any bowler in one-day cricket.

Andy Flower took 540 runs in two Tests off the Indians in November, which included scores of 183 and 232. He has been in excellent nick on either side of the stumps, taking five catches in an innings against England in the Nottingham Test in June. Murali's teammate, the elegant Marvan Atapattu stands third in the Ratings. He had a fabulous home season in the middle of 2000, with scores of 207 against Pakistan and 120 against the touring South Africans. He also performed brilliantly in the Asia Cup at Dhaka in June, and the Coca Cola triangular at Sharjah in October.

India holds the fifth spot in the CEAT Team Ratings. England, in the wake of the historic series wins against Pakistan and the West Indies, tops the list.