Team India attains the No.1 position in ICC ODI Rankings

With a win in the 3rd ODI at the Holkar Stadium in Indore, the Team India attained the No.1 spot in the ICC ODI rankings. Heading into the game, they were at levels with South Africa in terms of the points and only decimals separated the two teams. Virat Kohli & Co. won the match by 5 wickets with more than two overs to spare, with that the series as well and thus have taken the pole position from South Africa in the rankings. This is their third consecutive ODI series win and ninth ODI win on the trot.

At the start of the series, the Indian team had 117 points in their account and were behind Australia at No.3 as they won the first two matches they moved to the second spot and the difference between the top two teams was 0.01. They had 5,599 points in their account from 47 matches, the ratings for which was 119.13 (exactly 119.12766) whereas South Africa at the pole had 5,957 points from 50 matches which accounted for 119.14 ratings.

Now, the Indian team has 5764 points from 48 matches which places them above the Proteas with 120 points while the Aussies lost another rating point and are on 114. If England win their ongoing 3rd ODI against Windies at Bristol they will gain a point and topple Australia down to the 4th position.

Nothing quite has gone Australia’s way in the series against India, as they lost the first three ODIs in Chennai, Kolkata and Indore. They’ve had their moments but in the first two games the Indian spinners made perfect use of the slow conditions to choke the visitors in the middle overs and in the 3rd match, the Indian top order gave the team a blazing start as they were chasing 293 runs.

There was a bit of a middle order failure as they lost two quick wickets but all-rounder Hardik Pandya who has been growing in stature with every passing match scored a defining half century to take the team to the doorsteps of victory before being dismissed on 79. Team India eventually won the match in 47.5 overs with 5 wickets in hand.

ICC ODI Team Rankings:

More to follow…