Pakistan move back to number 8 spot in ICC ODI rankings

A huge sigh of relief came in for the Pakistan cricket team fans on Friday. Pakistani team were not even involved in the match that saw them surge back to number 8 in ICC ODI rankings. West Indies played Zimbabwe in the final league match of the ongoing tri-series in Zimbabwe. A rain curtailed affair saw West Indies lose by 5 runs and thereby Zimbabwe made it to the finals.

Earlier in the series, when West Indies had beaten Sri Lanka, they had escalated up in the rankings. They had displaced Pakistan from the number 8 spot. The West Indies win had meant Pakistan slipping down to an all time low rank of number 9 in the ICC ODI rankings.

Now, with West Indies losing against Zimbabwe, Pakistan have moved back to number 8 and West Indies now languish at number 9. It is worth noting that the rankings have to be taken care of by the teams. With the 2019 edition of the ICC World Cup guaranteeing only top 8 teams to qualify directly, the race has now heated up.

The cutoff date for the 2019 World Cup qualifications is 30 September 2017. The top 8 teams on that day shall automatically qualify for the coveted event to be held in England and Wales. The other teams will have to compete in a qualifier in their bid to make it to the tournament proper.

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Prior to their clash with Zimbabwe at Bulawayo, West Indies were tied at number 8 spot along with Pakistan. However, the Asian team was ahead by marginal decimal points. The defeat at the hands of minnows Zimbabwe have officially put West Indies to the 9th spot in the rankings. Pakistan have 89 points to their name, while West Indies have 87 in the latest ICC ODI rankings.

Australia continue to top the charts for the ODIs and are closely followed by South Africa at number 2. New Zealand and India follow up next at number 3 and 4 respectively. Interestingly, West Indies was at number 9 spot when the qualification dates of ICC Champions Trophy 2017 had passed. They were subsequently ruled out of contention from participating in 2017 Champions Trophy.

Here is the latest ICC ODI team ranking: