India reclaim number 1 ranking in ODIs after beating Australia 4-1

What's the story?

After beating Australia by 7 wickets in the fifth ODI at the VCA stadium in Nagpur, Virat Kohli's Indian team have regained the world no. 1 spot in the ICC ODI rankings.

With this win, India, who had 119 points before today's match, have moved to 120 points and in the process, leapfrogged South Africa to reclaim the number 1 ranking.

Australia, on the other hand, retain the third spot with 114 points in spite of the 4-1 loss in the series.

The latest ICC ODI rankings:

In case you didn't know...

After claiming the series 3-0 following the third ODI in Indore, India moved to number 1 in the ICC ODI rankings. Unfortunately, they held the rankings for just four days as they dropped to number 2 after Australia got the better of the hosts in the Bengaluru ODI.

The details

Till date, the Indian team have spent around 14 months at the top of the ODI rankings. Since the inception of the ICC rankings, the Men in Blue have been at the top of the table on four different occasions.

However, they may not hold on to the top spot for long as South Africa will have a chance to reclaim it when they take on Bangladesh on October 15.

What's next?

India will get yet another shot at the top spot (assuming South Africa regain it against Bangladesh) when they host New Zealand in a three-match ODI series starting from October 22. If India manage to win the series against the Kiwis, they will hold on to the spot at least until the first week of February, as the Proteas do not play any ODI matches in that period.

Author's take

It is good to see the Indian team regain the number one spot. This means the team are in a good place and knowing Virat Kohli, he will expect his players to give their 100%, irrespective of what the rankings say.

A win for India in the ODI series in South Africa next year will make sure that Kohli and his men remain at the top of the table for a long time.