London: Wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni has moved to the top of the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen.
Dhoni was in second spot behind Ricky Ponting before the two-match ODI series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi that finished on Wednesday night.
But his 59 in Indias series-levelling win in the second match has been enough to move him one rating point ahead of the Australian captain.
The LG ICC ODI Batting Rankings
1. Mahendra Dhoni
India
2. Ricky Ponting
Australia
3. Adam Gilchrist
Australia
4. Andrew Symonds
Australia
5. Graeme Smith
South Africa
6. Mike Hussey
Australia
7. Kevin Pietersen
England
8. Kumar Sangakkara
Sri Lanka
9. Rahul Dravid
India
10. Yuvraj Singh
India
It caps a remarkably rapid rise for the 24 year-old from Jharkhand because he only made his ODI debut in December 2004 but his statistics provide compelling support for his position on top of the world.
In 42 matches he averages 52.76 with two hundreds and eight fifties and, equally significantly, he has made those runs at an awesome strike-rate of 103 runs per hundred balls.
Dhoni is one of three India batsmen in the top 10 places of the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen with captain Rahul Dravid ninth (up two places) and Yuvraj Singh (10th) also featuring.
Further down the list are the injured Sachin Tendulkar in joint 21st spot with Sri Lankas Sanath Jayasuriya and Virender Sehwag, whose return to form with 73 on Wednesday has seen him move back up four places to joint 24th position, alongside Englands Andrew Strauss.
Irfan Pathan remains Indias top-ranked bowler in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers and has moved up one spot to third in the list with only Shaun Pollock of South Africa and Australias Glenn McGrath ahead of him.
Pathan remains in third position in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders behind Pollock and Englands Andrew Flintoff but he now has his best-ever haul of rating points.
The other India player in the bowling top 10 is spinner Harbhajan Singh, in 10th position, but he slipped three spots as a result of his performances in Abu Dhabi. However, several other Indian bowlers are on the way up the list.
Ajit Agarkar is up four spots to 21st position, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth rises 12 places to be joint 54th (alongside Bangladeshs Manjural Islam Rana) and Ramesh Powar has broken into the top 100, up 19 places to 82nd in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers.
Pakistan have three batsmen in the top 25 with captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf in joint 15th position and Shoaib Malik in 23rd spot. Younis Khan, whose unbeaten 71 guided his side to victory on Tuesday, is up eight places to joint 44th alongside Sri Lankas Russel Arnold.
The leading Pakistan bowler in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers is Naved-ul-Hasan, who remains unchanged in 12th position while Shoaib Malik is in fifth spot in the all-rounder list.
The shared two-match series means India and Pakistan remain unchanged in the LG ICC ODI Championship table in third and fourth places respectively.
India trail second-placed South Africa by three points and are 16 points behind leaders Australia while Pakistan are two points back from India.
