Opportunity for both India and Sri Lanka to claim number-one ODI ranking

India currently sits in third position behind South Africa and Australia, and leads fourth-ranked Sri Lanka by two ratings points. However, if the home side wins the series by 4-1 or better, then it will jump to the top of the leaderboard.

A 4-1 series win will put India at par with South Africa on 115 ratings points, but when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point, then it will be ranked number-one. A 5-0 sweep will mean India will take a two-point lead over South Africa.

In contrast, the task for Sri Lanka is more challenging. For it to achieve the number-one position, it will have to win all the five matches. In this scenario, Sri Lanka will join South Africa on 115 ratings points but will be ranked number-one by a fraction of a point.

If the visitors win the series by 4-1, then it will swap places with the reigning world champion.

Meanwhile, India’s captain for the first three ODIs, Virat Kohli, will be aiming to regain the number-one ranking in the forthcoming series. The 25-year-old batsman is currently sitting in third position in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen and trails number-one ranked AB de Villiers of South Africa by 30 ratings points.

Sri Lanka’s former captain Kumar Sangakkara is his side’s highest-ranked batsman in fifth position and has Australia’s fourth-ranked George Bailey firmly within his sights.

Rival openers Tillakaratne Dilshan of Sri Lanka and India’s Shikhar Dhawan are in seventh and ninth positions, respectively and will be aiming for upward movements.

In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Bowlers, India’s left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja in sixth position is the highest-ranked bowler from either side. He trails fourth-ranked James Anderson of England by 30 ratings points.

Bowlers outside the top 10 and aiming to head in the right direction include Ravichandaran Ashwin (18th), Angelo Mathews (25th), Nuwan Kulasekara (43rd) and Thisara Perera (50th).

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews will be targeting the number-one position on the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI All-rounders. The 27-year-old is enjoying his career-high rating of 387 and is 24 ratings points behind Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez who is in first place.

Series schedule:

2 Nov – 1st ODI, Cuttack

6 Nov – 2nd ODI, Ahmedabad

9 Nov – 3rd ODI, Hyderabad

13 Nov – 4th ODI, Kolkata

16 Nov – 5th ODI, Ranchi

Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings (as on 1 November, before the start of India-SL ODI series)

1.      South Africa   115

2.      Australia          114

3.      India                113

4.      Sri Lanka         111

5.      England           107

6.      Pakistan           98

7.      New Zealand  96

8.      West Indies     96

9.      Bangladesh     69

10.  Zimbabwe       58

11.  Afghanistan    42

12.  Ireland             33

Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings (as on 28 October, after New Zealand-South Africa series):

Batsmen

Rank      Player                   Team     Points    Ave         HS Rating

   1           AB de Villiers        SA           883         51.02     885 v SL at Hambantota 2014

   2           Hashim Amla       SA           855         54.43     901 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012

   3           Virat Kohli            Ind          853         51.57     886 v Ban at Fatullah 2014

   4           George Bailey       Aus         802         46.61     867 v SA at Harare 2014

   5           K. Sangakkara     SL           800         40.13     853 v Afg at Mirpur 2014

   6           MS Dhoni              Ind          757         52.85     836 v Aus at Delhi 2009

   7=        T. Dilshan              SL           739         37.99     767 v Pak at Sharjah 2013

                Quinton de Kock SA           739*      45.00     747 v Zim at Harare 2014

   9           Shikhar Dhawan  Ind          722         41.97     747 v WI at Kochi 2014

  10         Ross Taylor          NZ          702         40.07     713 v Ind at Wellington 2014

Selected Rankings

Rank      Player                   Team     Points    Ave         HS Rating

  14         Angelo Mathews  SL           651         38.13     652 v Pak at Hambantota 2014

  15         Suresh Raina        Ind          650         35.91     669 v Eng at Dharamsala 2013

  34         M. Jayawardene  SL           589         33.06     738 v WI at Colombo (RPS) 2001

  45         Ravindra Jadeja  Ind          538         34.48     552 v WI at Kochi 2014

  59         Ajinkya Rahane  Ind          514*!    28.37     514 v WI at Dharamsala 2014

  76         Kusal Perera         SL           480*      26.28     487 v SA at Hambantota 2014

  79         Upul Tharanga     SL           468         32.55     663 v NZ at Napier 2006

87         Ambati Rayudu   Ind          437*!    39.54     437 v WI at Dharamsala 2014

  95=       Thisara Perera      SL           424!       18.73     424 v Pak at Dambulla 2014

                Ashan Priyanjan  SL           424*      27.64     436 v Pak at Hambantota 2014

Bowlers

Rank      Player                   Team     Points    Ave         HS Rating

   1           Saeed Ajmal         Pak         770         22.18     810 v SA at Centurion 2013

   2           Sunil Narine          WI          753         26.49     791 v SL at Jamaica 2013

   3           Dale Steyn            SA           715         25.52     746 v Ind at Durban 2013

   4           James Anderson  Eng         690         29.10     719 v SA at The Oval 2013

   5           Mitchell Johnson Aus         680         25.68     724 v Ban at Darwin 2008

   6           Ravindra Jadeja  Ind          660         32.06     738 v Zim at Bulawayo 2013

   7           B. Kumar              Ind          657!       36.59     657 v WI at Dharamsala 2014

   8           M. Hafeez             Pak         647        35.01     769 v Ind at Kolkata 2013

   9=        Steven Finn           Eng         640         28.41     755 v NZ at Auckland 2013

                Clint McKay         Aus         640         24.37     709 v Eng at Cardiff 2013

Selected Rankings

Rank      Player                   Team     Points    Ave         HS Rating

  18         R. Ashwin              Ind          619         32.41     691 v SL at Hambantota 2012

  25         Angelo Mathews  SL           595         35.66     649 v Ind at Trinidad 2013

  43         N. Kulasekara      SL           527         33.76     727 v NZ at Colombo (RPS) 2009

  50         Thisara Perera      SL           493         26.46     610 v Ind at Colombo (RPS) 2012

  69         T. Dilshan              SL           427         46.78     497 v SA at Colombo (RPS) 2013

  71         Ishant Sharma     Ind          425         31.44     594 v Aus at Nagpur 2009

  74         Umesh Yadav      Ind          419!       41.08     419 v WI at Dharamsala 2014

  86         Suresh Raina        Ind          382*      48.20     393 v Eng at Headingley 2014

All-rounders

Rank      Player                   Team     Points    HS Rating

   1           M. Hafeez             Pak         411        438 v Ind at Kolkata 2013

   2           Angelo Mathews  SL           387!       387 v Pak at Dambulla 2014

   3           Shakib Al Hasan Ban        361        453 v Zim at Chittagong 2009

   4           Ravindra Jadeja  Ind          355        378 v Eng at Edgbaston 2013

   5           T. Dilshan              SL           316        373 v NZ at Hambantota 2013

*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