Dravid bats his way back into the top five of LG ICC Player Rankings

Dhoni slips down to 15th; Bell makes most of his good form; Taibu celebrates his return in style; Flintoff back into top ten ODI bowlers; de Villiers into top 20

India captain Rahul Dravid has shot up eight places and into the top five in the latest LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen following his performances against England in the current ODI series.

Dravid's contributions of 46, 92 not out and 56 in the first three ODIs in the seven-match series have continued what has been a good tour so far for the 34-year-old. He is now fast closing in on his highest rating of 754 points he achieved during a tour of the West Indies last year.

While the skipper is going well, the same cannot be said for all his team-mates. For example, wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni has made a disappointing start to the ODI series and has dropped 10 places to 15th position as a result.

But such is the competitive nature of the current rankings, there are only 42 ratings points separating Matthew Hayden in fourth spot and Dhoni in 15th so with four matches remaining there is plenty of opportunity for the India star to make amends.

The latest rankings bring good news for England's Ian Bell who has made a great start to the ODI series and has jumped 15 places to the highest position of his career to date in 14th spot.

The 25-year-old Warwickshire batsman has already registered innings of 79, 126 not out and 64 in the first three ODIs and he now has South Africa's Jacques Kallis and Shivnarine Chanderpaul of the West Indies in his sights.

Having been out of the LG ICC Player Rankings for some time, Tatenda Taibu has returned to international cricket with a bang having hit a fine, unbeaten century for Zimbabwe against South Africa in Harare on Sunday. The 24-year-old wicketkeeper returns to the rankings in 70th position.

Proteas' opener AB de Villiers is up four places to 19th after a century set up a narrow victory for his side in the third ODI against Zimbabwe.

England's bowlers are making their presence felt in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers with Andrew Flintoff breaking back into the top ten and James Anderson making it into the top 20.

Following his five-wicket haul in the second ODI at Bristol, Flintoff has jumped five places to 10th while Anderson has moved up now fewer than 19th places to 14th spot having already taken eight wickets in the series.

They still have a long way to go to catch top bowler South Africa's Shaun Pollock, however, who is followed by Nathan Bracken of Australia in second place and New Zealand's Shane Bond in third.

Flintoff's exploits have also moved him up three places to second position in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders behind Pollock but ahead of Jacques Kallis, Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka and the West Indies' Chris Gayle.

In the LG ICC ODI Championship England has moved level with the West Indies after winning two of the three opening games in the series. However, Paul Collingwood's side remains in eighth position when the points are calculated past the decimal point.

India remains in fifth place but can leap-frog Sri Lanka into fourth position with a strong finish to the series.

South Africa's second place has been strengthened by its 3-0 series win over Zimbabwe but it is still five ratings points behind top team Australia.

Upcoming fixtures:

30 Aug - England v India, fourth ODI, Old Trafford
2 Sep - England v India, fifth ODI, Headingley
5 Sep - England v India, sixth ODI, The Oval
8 Sep - England v India, seventh ODI, Lord's