Asia Cup 2023: Bangladesh Stop Team India From Becoming No.1 Ranked Team In All Three Formats
Published - 16 Sep 2023, 04:32 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:18 AM
Team India, on Friday (September 15), squandered a golden opportunity to become the number one team in all three formats of the game.
India are currently at the top of the ICC Rankings in the T20I and Test formats. And they were just one win away from reaching the pinnacle in the ODI format too. Before the game against Bangladesh at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Bengaluru, the Men in Blue held the No.2 position on the ICC Men’s ODI Team Rankings with 116 rating points, just slightly trailing top-ranked Australia, who led with 118 points.
For India to displace Australia as the number one team in ODIs, two conditions had to be met – India had to win against Bangladesh and Australia had to lose against South Africa. Well, only one of the two conditions was met and India missed the opportunity to achieve the number-one ranking before the Asia Cup final.
Australia suffered a crushing loss against South Africa. The Proteas inflicted a heavy 164-run defeat on Australia in the fourth ODI to draw level in the five-match series. On the other hand, India failed to beat Bangladesh in their last Super 4 game of the ongoing Asia Cup.
The Rohit Sharma-led side suffered a 6-run defeat. The defeat means India not only failed to move to the top of the ICC ODI Rankings but also slipped to No.3 in the rankings table with a 114 rating behind Pakistan and Australia. Pakistan and Australia are currently separated by a narrow rating margin with the latter having a rating of 115.259 and the former on No.2 with a rating of 114.889.
Chance for India to become number one in ODIs:
Even if India go on to win the final of the Asia Cup 2023 and Australia lose the fifth ODI against South Africa, the Men in Blue won’t be able to move to the top of the ICC Rankings. India, however, will have the opportunity to do so when they host Australia for a three-match ODI series later this month. The series will decide the number one ODI team going into the World Cup.
India will now be looking to bounce back and win the upcoming Asia Cup 2023 final. They will take on defending champions Sri Lanka in the title decider on Sunday (September 17) in Colombo.
