Dubai, July 16 (IANS) Following the 3-0 series win against Zimbabwe, India have maintained their second place in the International Cricket Council (ICC) One-Day International (ODI) team rankings, released on Thursday.
However, India at 115, are still 14 points adrift of Australia who lead the pack with 129 points. New Zealand are third with 112 points, followed by South Africa (109) and Sri Lanka (105).
Bangladesh’s recent 2-1 ODI series win against South Africa helped them qualify for the 2017 Champions Trophy after consolidating the seventh spot in the team rankings, which saw them close the gap on sixth-placed England (98) to two points, while South Africa remained fourth but have dropped three rankings points to 109.
In the ODI batting rankings, India’s left-handed middle-order bat Suresh Raina has moved up one place to 19th, but the biggest mover in the series was Zimbabwe’s Chamu Chibhabha whose 157 runs in the three games (including two half centuries and a top score of 82) vaulted the 28-year-old 33 places to 89th.
The top 10 list for ODI batsmen remained unchanged with three Indians – Virat Kohli (fourth), Shikhar Dhawan (seventh) and ninth-positioned Mahendra Singh Dhoni holding onto their spots in a list headed by South African AB de Villiers.
In the ODI bowlers’ rankings, India medium pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar climbed four places to the 12th place after taking five wickets against Zimbabwe in the three match series.
Teammates Akshar Patel (up 18 places to a career high 47th), Mohit Sharma (up seven places to 51st) and Harbhajan Singh (101st) also pushed up after their impressive performances.
The ODI team rankings (in terms of rank, team, points)
1 Australia 129
2 India 115
3 New Zealand 112
4 South Africa 109
5 Sri Lanka 105
6 England 98
7 Bangladesh 96
8 West Indies 88
9 Pakistan 88
10 Ireland 50
11 Zimbabwe 43
12 Afghanistan 41