Cricket Reporter
India’s one-day captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is within touching distance of regaining top spot in the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Player Rankings.

And there is a new name at the top of the bowling list with Australia’s Nathan Bracken taking over the number one position from Daniel Vettori of New Zealand.

Dhoni was last at the head of affairs among the world’s top one-day batsmen for one week in April 2006 and now, at the conclusion of the Asia Cup in Pakistan, he has only South Africa’s Graeme Smith ahead of him.

Dhoni moved up two places in the rankings as a result of his 327 runs during the tournament. He was dismissed just twice in five innings and had a strike-rate of 91 runs per 100 balls.

Dhoni’s gain is Sachin Tendulkar’s loss as the little master, who missed the tournament, drops four places to number six in the listings.

But heading in the other direction are Andrew Symonds and Kumar Sangakkara. Both players climb fours spots with Symonds now in ninth position and Sangakkara a place further back.

Veteran Sri Lanka batsman Sanath Jayasuriya, whose blazing 125 from 114 balls against India in Sunday’s Asia Cup final was the climax to a superb series, has returned to the top 20.

Jayasuriya, who finished as the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 378 runs, rises 10 places and now lies in 16th slot while his captain, Mahela Jayawardena drops three positions to 27th place.

Further down the batting list there are significant moves in the right direction for three players – Misbah-ul-Haq, Tamim Iqbal and Suresh Raina.

Misbah climbs 24 places to 37th position, Tamim rises seven slots to 42nd (a career-high which also makes him Bangladesh’s top-ranked batsman) and Raina shoots up 17 spots to 53rd position.

Bracken’s rise to number one in the Reliance Mobile ODI Player Rankings for bowlers comes off the back of an impressive series against the West Indies.

Bracken was the joint-leading wicket-taker in that series with eight scalps in five matches, the same as fellow left-armer Mitchell Johnson, who is the other significant Australian mover in the top 20.

Johnson climbs eight places to seventh in the listing, and with a career-high rating too.

The same is true of Pakistan’s Rao Iftikhar, into the top 20 as he gains eight spots to 15th.

Rao was the fourth highest wicket-taker in the Asia Cup with nine wickets and the three men above him are also making all the right moves in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings.

Sohail Tanvir (10 wickets) is up six places and now shares 20th spot on the ladder with Kenya’s Peter Ongondo.

Muttiah Muralidaran’s 11 wicket haul sees him rise seven slots to seventh place while fellow spinner Ajantha Mendis, whose 6-13 in the Asia Cup final wrecked India’s batting line-up, climbs a remarkable 65 places to 85th position.

His fellow Sri Lankan, seamer Nuwan Kulasekara climbs 11 spots to 54th and is at his best ranking and rating.

In the Reliance Mobile ODI Player Rankings for all-rounders, Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik remains top but a quiet Asia Cup for Shahid Afridi sees him drop two places to fourth and that means Jacob Oram and Jacques Kallis both move up one position and within touching distance of first place.

The Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship table sees Australia move two rating points clear of its nearest rival, South Africa, following its 5-0 demolition of the West Indies in the Caribbean. The home side now languishes in eighth, six rating points behind England.

Sri Lanka’s Asia Cup win has Jayawardena’s men lying in sixth, four points behind Pakistan and seven back from India. New Zealand is third but it and the rest of the teams are quite some distance behind both Australia and South Africa.