Opportunity for both India and Sri Lanka to claim number one ODI ranking

Virat Kohli could become world number one again

India and Sri Lanka go head to head in a five-ODI series starting in Cuttack on Sunday eyeing the number-one position on the Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings.

India currently sit in third position behind South Africa and Australia, and lead fourth-ranked Sri Lanka by two ratings points. However, if the home side win the series by 4-1 or better, then it will jump to the top of the leaderboard.

A 4-1 series win will put India at par with South Africa on 115 ratings points, but when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point, then it will be ranked number-one. A 5-0 sweep will mean India will take a two-point lead over South Africa.

In contrast, the task for Sri Lanka is more challenging. For it to achieve the number-one position, it will have to win all the five matches. In this scenario, Sri Lanka will join South Africa on 115 ratings points but will be ranked number-one by a fraction of a point.

If the visitors win the series by 4-1, then it will swap places with the reigning world champion.

Meanwhile, India’s captain for the first three ODIs, Virat Kohli, will be aiming to regain the number-one ranking in the forthcoming series. The 25-year-old batsman is currently sitting in third position in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen and trails number-one ranked AB de Villiers of South Africa by 30 ratings points.

Sri Lanka’s former captain Kumar Sangakkara is his side’s highest-ranked batsman in fifth position and has Australia’s fourth-ranked George Bailey firmly within his sights.

Rival openers Tillakaratne Dilshan of Sri Lanka and India’s Shikhar Dhawan are in seventh and ninth positions, respectively and will be aiming for upward movements.

In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, India’s left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja in sixth position is the highest-ranked bowler from either side. He trails fourth-ranked James Anderson of England by 30 ratings points.

Bowlers outside the top 10 and aiming to head in the right direction include Ravichandaran Ashwin (18th), Angelo Mathews (25th), Nuwan Kulasekara (43rd) and Thisara Perera (50th).

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews will be targeting the number-one position on the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders. The 27-year-old is enjoying his career-high rating of 387 and is 24 ratings points behind Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez who is in first place.