World champion Australia goes head to head with former World Cup winner India in a five-match ODI series in Perth on Tuesday with its number-one ranking in the ICC ODI Team Championship secured.
Australia (127) leads second-ranked India (114) by 13 points and even if it loses all the five matches of the series, Australia will drop points but will still finish one point ahead of India. In contrast, if India loses all the five matches, then it will slip behind South Africa and will join fourth-ranked New Zealand on 111 points, but will be ranked third when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.
To retain its second place, the 1983 and 2011 world champion needs to win at least one match of the series.
Meanwhile, in the ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen, India boasts three batsmen inside the top 10, while Australia only has Glenn Maxwell in 10th position. Virat Kohli is the highest-ranked batsman from either side in second position. He trails number-one ranked AB de Villiers of South Africa by 96 points but is ahead of another South African, Hashim Amla, by 28 points. This means the India Test captain will be aiming to produce solid performances to not only consolidate his second position but to also narrow the gap with the top-ranked de Villiers.
Sixth-ranked MS Dhoni and seventh-ranked Shikhar Dhawan are separated by just 11 points, which means there can potentially be some changes in the middle of the pack depending on how these two batsmen perform.
Batsmen sitting outside the top 10 and aiming for upward movement include Rohit Sharma (13th), Aaron Finch (14th), George Bailey (15th), Steven Smith (20th), David Warner (23rd), Ajinkya Rahane (28th) and James Faulkner (30th).
In the ICC Player Rankings for ODI Bowlers, India’s off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will start as the highest-ranked bowler from either side in the absence of number-one ranked Mitchell Starc.
Ashwin, who is the number-one ranked Test bowler, is in 10th position and will be aiming to return to the top five. However, to make it happen, he will have to produce exceptional performances as he trails South Africa’s fifth-ranked Dale Steyn by 42 points.
India fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the next highest-ranked bowler to feature in the series. He is in 14th position and 43 points behind Ashwin.
Other bowlers aiming for upward movements include Faulkner (22nd), Ravindra Jadeja (25th), Axar Patel (30th) and Umesh Yadav (37th).
In the ICC Player Rankings for ODI All-Rounders, fourth-ranked Maxwell and fifth-ranked Faulkner will be aiming to gain one place each as they have Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan firmly within their sights. The list is headed by Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh.
Series schedule:
12 Jan – 1st ODI, Perth
15 Jan – 2nd ODI, Brisbane
17 Jan – 3rd ODI, Melbourne
20 Jan – 4th ODI, Canberra
23 Jan – 5th ODI, Sydney
ICC ODI TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP (as on 10 January, before the start of Australia-India series)
RANK TEAM POINTS
1 Australia 127
2 India 114
3 South Africa 112
4 New Zealand 111
5 Sri Lanka 104
6 England 101
7 Bangladesh 97
8 Pakistan 87
9 West Indies 86
10 Afghanistan 47
11 Ireland 46
12 Zimbabwe 45
(Developed by David Kendix)
ICC ODI PLAYER RANKINGS (as on 10 January, before the start of Australia-India series)
BATSMEN (top 10)
Rank Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
1 AB de Villiers SA 900 54.21 902 v NZ at Auckland 2015
2 Virat Kohli Ind 804 50.60 886 v Ban at Fatullah 2014
3 Hashim Amla SA 776 52.70 901 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012
4 Kane Williamson NZ 770 47.86 798 v SA at Centurion 2015
5 T. Dilshan SL 760 39.44 802 v Sco at Hobart 2015
6 MS Dhoni Ind 741 52.26 836 v Aus at Delhi 2009
7 Shikhar Dhawan Ind 730 42.93 794 v SA at Melbourne 2015
8 Martin Guptill NZ 722! 42.71 722 v SL at Bay Oval 2016
9 Ross Taylor NZ 720 43.90 743 v Zim at Harare 2015
10 Glenn Maxwell Aus 717 34.88 724 v Pak at Adelaide 2015
Selected rankings (top 50)
Rank Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
13 Rohit Sharma Ind 702 39.71 715 v SA at Rajkot 2015
14 Aaron Finch Aus 696 38.06 743 v Eng at Melbourne 2015
15 George Bailey Aus 693 42.18 867 v SA at Harare 2014
20 Steve Smith Aus 657 39.22 688 v Eng at Lord's 2015
23 David Warner Aus 638 35.91 649 v Eng at Southampton 2015
28 Ajinkya Rahane Ind 609! 32.53 609 v SA at Mumbai 2015
30 James Faulkner Aus 599* 42.84 628 v Eng at Perth 2015
BOWLERS (top 10)
Rank Player Team Pts Ave Eco. HS Rating
1 Mitchell Starc Aus 713 19.65 4.85 783 v NZ at Melbourne 2015
2 Trent Boult NZ 706* 23.48 4.66 738 v Eng at The Oval 2015
3 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 699 27.89 4.30 717 v Zim at Chittagong 2009
4 Imran Tahir SA 688 22.94 4.49 735 v SL at Sydney 2015
5 Dale Steyn SA 682 25.93 4.86 746 v Ind at Durban 2013
6 Mitchell Johnson Aus 672 25.26 4.83 724 v Ban at Darwin 2008
7 Morne Morkel SA 666 23.98 4.90 717 v SL at East London 2012
8 Matt Henry NZ 650*! 21.60 5.38 650 v SL at Bay Oval 2016
9 Saeed Ajmal Pak 642 22.73 4.18 810 v SA at Centurion 2013
10 R. Ashwin Ind 640 31.27 4.81 691 v SL at Hambantota 2012
Selected rankings (top 50)
Rank Player Team Pts Ave Eco. HS Rating
14 B. Kumar Ind 597 36.45 4.82 657 v WI at Dharamsala 2014
22 James Faulkner Aus 568 30.25 5.52 585 v NZ at Melbourne 2015
25 Ravindra Jadeja Ind 555 33.49 4.85 738 v Zim at Bulawayo 2013
30 Axar Patel Ind 550* 28.82 4.73 559 v SA at Chennai 2015
37 Umesh Yadav Ind 532 32.23 5.84 600 v Ban at Melbourne 2015
ALL-ROUNDERS (top 5)
Rank Player Team Points Highest Ranking
1 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 416 453 v Zim at Chittagong 2009
2 Mohammad Hafeez Pak 356 438 v Ind at Kolkata 2013
3 Tillakaratne Dilshan SL 349 415 v Sco at Hobart 2015
4 Glenn Maxwell Aus 348 351 v Eng at Headingley 2015
5 James Faulkner Aus 340*/ 361 v NZ at Melbourne 2015
*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after a minimum of 40 started innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating after he has conceded 1,500 runs.
!indicates career-highest rating
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