Australia’s Michael Hussey has replaced India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni at the top of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen after an outstanding series against Pakistan which concluded on Sunday.

Hussey scored 220 runs at an average of 73.33 which not only helped Australia make a clean sweep of the five-match series but also put him ahead of Dhoni in the latest rankings which were released on Monday.

Hussey had started the series trailing Dhoni by 21 points and he now leads the Indian captain by three points with a chance to extend the advantage when he and Australia takes on the West Indies in a five-match ODI series which starts in Melbourne on 7 February.

The 34-year-old Western Australian had first occupied the top spot after the ODI against the West Indies in Kuala Lumpur in September 2006 before slipping down the order during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 in the West Indies.

In contrast, it is the first time since January 2009 that Dhoni has conceded his top spot which he had first achieved in Jamshedpur in April 2006. However, Dhoni too will have an opportunity to regain the coveted number-one position when he leads India in the three-match ODI series against South Africa which starts in Jaipur from 21 February.

Besides Hussey, Australia vice-captain Michael Clarke has also gained two places and has jumped from 18th position to 16th spot after scoring 173 runs in the series.

However, rival captains Ricky Ponting and Mohammad Yousuf have slipped in the order. Ponting, who scored 125 runs in the series, has dropped four places to eighth spot while Yousuf has slipped three places to 18th position after managing just 81 runs at an average of little over 20.

Australia’s Cameron White and Pakistan’s Umar Akmal are the biggest movers in the latest rankings with both the middle-order batsman achieving their career-best rankings.

White, who finished the series as the leading run-getter with 245 runs, has rocketed 20 places to share the 23rd spot with England’s Kevin Pietersen while Umar has jumped 18 places to occupy 38th spot after scoring 187 runs.

Australia’s Shane Watson has also improved his ranking by two places and is now in 25th position but Pakistan’s trio of Shoaib Malik, Salman Butt and Younus Khan have slipped in the rankings. Shoaib has dropped three places to 27th position, Salman has fallen five places to 31st spot and Younus has slipped six places to 39th spot.

In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi has returned to the top 10. The wrist spinner, who took six wickets in the series, has jumped three places to ninth spot.

However, off-spinners Nathan Haurtiz of Australia and Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal have dropped to 20th and 21st spots respectively after slipping four places each.

Watson continues to inch towards a place in the top 20 with a jump of six places to 24th spot while Pakistan’s Mohammad Asif has vaulted 15 places to sit in 29th position.

Clint McKay, who was the most successful bowler of the series with 14 wickets, has rocketed 198 places to share the 59th position with India’s Munaf Patel while Ryan Harris, who took 13 wickets in three matches, has broken into the top 100 and now sits in 94th spot after jumping 191 places.

The bowlers’ list is still headed by Daniel Vettori of New Zealand with Ray Price of Zimbabwe in second position.

Meanwhile, in the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship table, Australia has opened up 12 points gap with second-placed India after it earned three ratings points for winning all the five matches of the series.

In contrast, Pakistan has conceded four ratings points and is now on 104 ratings points – four behind sixth-placed Sri Lanka and 28 ratings points ahead of eighth-placed West Indies.

Reliance Mobile ODI Championship (as of 1 February 2010, after the end of Australia – Pakistan ODI series)

Rank   Team              Rating

1          Australia          133

2          India                121

3          South Africa   119

4          New Zealand  112

5          England           109

6          Sri Lanka         108

7          Pakistan           104

8          West Indies     76

9          Bangladesh     55

10        Zimbabwe       26

11        Ireland             25

12        Kenya              2

(Developed by David Kendix)

Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Rankings (as of 1 February 2010, after the end of Australia – Pakistan ODI series)

Batsmen

Rank      Player                                                   Team     Points    HS Rating

   1           (+1)         Mike Hussey                        Aus         825        865 v NZ at Perth 2007

   2           (-1)          MS Dhoni                              Ind          822        837 v Aus at Delhi 2009

   3           ( - )          AB de Villiers                        SA           749        754 v Eng at Cape Town 2009

   4           (+1)         Chris Gayle                           WI          736        808 v Zim at Harare 2003

   5           (+1)         S.Chanderpaul                     WI          733        778 v Eng at Guyana 2009

   6           (+1)         Graeme Smith                      SA           729        785 v Ind at Kolkata 2005

   7           (+1)         Sachin Tendulkar                Ind          723        887 v Zim at Sharjah 1998

   8           (-4)          Ricky Ponting                       Aus         718        831 v NZ at Hobart 2007

   9           ( - )          Virender Sehwag                  Ind          702        787 v NZ at Auckland 2003

  10         ( - )          Kumar Sangakkara            SL           701        755 v Pak at Colombo (RPS) 2006

  11         ( - )          Jacques Kallis                       SA           695        818 v WI at Johannesburg 2004

  12         ( - )          Yuvraj Singh                        Ind          692        786 v WI at Kingston 2009

  13         ( - )          T. Dilshan                              SL           687!       687 v Ind at Mirpur 2010

  14         ( - )          Paul Collingwood                Eng         678        688 v SA at Cape Town 2009

  15         ( - )          Herschelle Gibbs                  SA           672        752 v SL at Durban 2003

  16         (+2)         Michael Clarke                    Aus         671        751 v SL at Melbourne 2008

  17         ( - )          Brendon McCullum            NZ          666!       666 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2009

  18         (-3)          Mohammad Yousuf           Pak         655        779 v Zim at Harare 2002

  19         ( - )          Gautam Gambhir                                Ind          642        702 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2009

  20         ( - )          Suresh Raina                        Ind          641!       641 v SL at Mirpur 2010

Bowlers

Rank      Player                                                   Team     Points    HS Rating

   1           ( - )          Daniel Vettori                       NZ          719        790 v Eng at Christchurch 2008

   2           ( - )          Ray Price                               Zim         701*!    701 v SA at Centurion 2009

   3           ( - )          Shakib Al Hasan                 Ban        700        716 v Zim at Chittagong 2009

   4           ( - )          Kyle Mills                              NZ          685        723 v Aus at Melbourne 2009

   5           ( - )          Nuwan Kulasekara             SL           682        727 v NZ at Colombo (RPS) 2009

   6           ( - )          Harbhajan Singh                 Ind          655        738 v WI at Bridgetown 2002

   7           ( - )          Shane Bond                          NZ          652        810 v SA at St George's 2007

   8           ( - )          Stuart Broad                         Eng         646        703 v SA at Trent Bridge 2008

   9           (+3)         Shahid Afridi                        Pak         639        667 v Ind at Mirpur 2008

  10=       (-1)          James Anderson                  Eng         638        700 v Ban at Dhaka 2003

                (-1)          Dale Steyn                            SA           638*      662 v Zim at Benoni 2009

  12         (-1)          Johan Botha                         SA           637        665 v Aus at Centurion 2009

  13         ( - )          Jacob Oram                          NZ          630        770 v Aus at The Oval 2004

  14         ( - )          Mitchell Johnson                 Aus         622        729 v Ban at Darwin 2008

  15         ( - )          Nathan Bracken                  Aus         611        808 v SL at St George's 2007

  16         (+2)         Andrew Flintoff                   Eng         608        758 v Ban at Dhaka 2003

  17         (+3)         Ajantha Mendis                   SL           604*       642 v SA at Centurion 2009

  18         (+3)         M.ashrafe Mortaza             Ban        600         653 v Zim at Mirpur 2009

  19         (+3)         Muttiah Muralidaran          SL           599        913 v NZ at Sharjah 2002

  20         (-4)          Nathan Hauritz                    Aus         597*      622 v Ind at Guwahati 2009

All-rounders

Rank     Player                   Team     Points    HS Rating

   1           ( - )          Shakib Al Hasan Ban        440        453 v Zim at Chittagong 2009

   2           ( - )          Shane Watson      Aus         372        384 v Pak at Sydney 2010

   3           ( - )          Yuvraj Singh        Ind          354        357 v Ban at Mirpur 2010

   4           ( - )          Shahid Afridi        Pak         336        352 v Ken at Nairobi 2002

   5=        (-1)          Jacques Kallis       SA           321        506 v WI at Bridgetown 2001

                (-1)          Jacob Oram          NZ          321        383 v WI at Queenstown 2008