Mahendra Singh Dhoni back on top of ODI rankings

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni toppled his South African counterpart Greame Smith to regain the top spot in the latest ICC ODI batsmen ranking.

By virtue of his consistent performance, including 76 and 71 in the pevious two one-dayers of the on-going ODI series against Sri Lanka, Dhoni has 803 rating points in his kitty, 27 points higher than Smith who occupies the second spot.

Dhoni had previously occupied the number one position for a brief period in 2006.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting is in the third spot with 751 points followed by team-mate Michael Hussey and England skipper Kevin Pietersen.

Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar is placed the ninth while an out of form Yuvraj Singh is languishing at 18th.

Meanwhile, comeback man Zaheer Khan is the lone Indian bowler in the top 20 ODI bowlers chart in the 14th spot with 642 rating points.

Australia's Nathan Bracken leads the table, followed by Kiwi skipper Daniel Vettori, team-mate Shane Bond, England youngster Stuart Broad and Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan.

However, no Indian representation is there in the all-rounders chart which is being led by Pakistan skipper Shaoib Malik. England's Andrew Flintoff and Kiwi Jacob Oram find themselves in the second and third position respectively.

Although India has already pocketed the five-match ODI series against the Lankans with one match to go, but it didn't help Twenty20 World Champions to move up the ODI championship table as they find themselves in the fourth spot.

Australia continued to lead the pack, followed by South Africa and New Zealand.

Courtesy www.sports.in.msn.com