ICC ODI Rankings: India in danger of losing number one spot
Preparations for next year’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will go up a notch this week when Pakistan hosts Australia in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in a three-match One-Day International (ODI) series, and world champion and number-one ranked India welcomes West Indies for a five-match ODI series.
The first of the two simultaneous series gets underway at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Tuesday, 7 October, and a 3-0 series victory for Australia will see it ascend to 114 points.
This result will give the four-time world champion the number-one ranking on the Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings provided the West Indies wins, at least, two matches in its five-ODI series against India, which starts on Wednesday, 8 October in Kochi. This scenario will see India stay on 113 ratings points, alongside South Africa, but it will be ranked behind the Proteas when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point to slip from the number-one spot.
However, if India wins all five matches of the series, it will rise to 116 ratings point and grab sole position on top of the table. A 4-1 win for India and 3-0 win for Australia will put both the sides on 114 ratings points, but Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s side will retain the number-one position by a fraction of a point.
Australia, which trails third-ranked Sri Lanka by a fraction of a point, will move ahead of Angelo Mathews’ side if it wins the series against Pakistan.
If India beats the West Indies 3-2 and Australia defeats Pakistan 2-1, then South Africa will move to the top of the table.
There is an added incentive for three of the four competing sides in these series.
India and West Indies are in Pool B of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and this series will provide them an excellent opportunity to examine each other ahead of their match at the WACA on Friday, 6 March 2015.
Pakistan are also in Pool B and will be keeping an eye on both India and the West Indies, as the 1992 world champion will go head to head with these sides in Adelaide on 15 February and in Christchurch on 21 February, respectively.
Australia are in Pool A of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, and will kick off its campaign with a Valentine’s Day clash against England in Melbourne.
Rank Team Rating
1 India 113
2 South Africa 113
3 Sri Lanka 111
4 Australia 111
5 England 107
6 Pakistan 100
7 New Zealand 98
8 West Indies 96
9 Bangladesh 69
10 Zimbabwe 58
11 Afghanistan 42
12 Ireland 33