Australia's Shane Watson celebrates after he scores a century against Bangladesh during their second one-day international (ODI) cricket match in Dhaka, April 11, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

CANBERRA - International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday announced Australia's Shane Watson has become the premier One Day International (ODI) all-rounder.

Watson moved into the top position for the first time, following his brilliant performances in the recent three-match series against Bangladesh.

The 29-year-old scored 37, 185 not out and 72 at an incredible average of 147.

He leads Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan into the No 1 position in the all-rounders rankings by a comfortable 44 point margin.

According to Herald Sun, Watson has also moved up to fourth spot in the batting ranking.

He is the highest ranked of the Australian players, with Mike Hussey staying in sixth place, captain Michael Clarke rising two places to 11th spot and former captain Ricky Ponting moving one place up to 16th position.

Despite India's win in the 2011 World Cup, Australia finished as the top-ranked ODI team, while 2011 World Cup Champion India were eight points behind Australia, 128 points to 120, on the April 1 cut-off date for the yearly award.

"The statistics say we are number one for good reason. We've won a lot of one-day games for a long period of time," Australia Cricket Team captain Michael Clarke told Sportal Australia on Friday.

"I certainly think we've earned the right to be the number one one-day team in the world. In saying that, I certainly think there 's a lot of work to be done on our game to improve and keep getting better."

Both India and Australia have each received $182,840 as first prize for finishing top of the respective Test and ODI rankings.