ICC ODI Team Rankings: World Champions Australia retain ODI shield
World Cup winners Australia have retained the ODI Shield and have also won USD$175,000 after finishing as the number-one ranked ODI side at the 1 April cut-off date. India have collected USD$75,000 for finishing second.
Despite winning 8 of the 9 matches in the just concluded World Cup and ending as the runners-up, New Zealand could only manage fifth spot in the table. South Africa and Sri Lanka occupy the third and fourth place respectively.
Bangladesh enjoyed their best World Cup campaign in cricketing history, getting the better of England in the group stage to qualify for the quarter-finals where they were defeated by India. However, that didn’t have much of an effect in the rankings table as they are still at the ninth spot behind the West Indies. England and Pakistan are at the sixth and seventh spot respectively.
According to the new ICC rules, only the top 8 teams as on September 30, 2017, will directly qualify for the 2019 World Cup hosted by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB); the rest will have to battle it out in a 10-team ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier to be held in Bangladesh in 2018 for the remaining two spots. So, Bangladesh and West Indies – currently languishing at the bottom – will have to be at their best in the next two years to make sure they aren’t forced to play the qualifiers.
| Ranking | Country | Rating Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia | 122 |
| 2 | India | 116 |
| 3 | South Africa | 112 |
| 4 | Sri Lanka | 108 |
| 5 | New Zealand | 107 |
| 6 | England | 101 |
| 7 | Pakistan | 95 |
| 8 | West Indies | 92 |
| 9 | Bangladesh | 76 |
| 10 | Zimbabwe | 50 |
| 11 | Ireland | 44 |
| 12 | Afghanistan | 38 |