England End Season As Top-Ranked ODI Team, India At Second
AP

England have finished the season as the top-ranked ODI team, according to the annual update released by ICC on Thursday. The ranking was formed after removing the series results from 2015-16 while the outcomes from 2016-17 and 2017-18 wee weighted at 50 per cent. England, meanwhile, will have to win four of the six games that they are set to play against Ireland (one-off ODI) and Pakistan (five-match series) to enter the World Cup as the top-ranked side.

The Eoin Morgan-led side are currently sitting at the top with 123 points, two points ahead of second-placed India. South Africa (115), New Zealand (113) and Australia (109) complete the top five. With the 2015 series results not being considered and the weightage of the following two years being halved, South Africa have leapfrogged New Zealand for the third position and Windies have overtaken Sri Lanka for the eighth position. But with none of the top 10 teams dropping out of the list, the upcoming World Cup will witness the top 10 ranked ODI sides in the competition.

England End Season As Top-Ranked ODI Team, India At Second
India are second in the ODI rankings (Credits: Getty)

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During the period of calculation, England won 43 of the 62 games they played while losing only 14. India, on the other hand, won 49 and lost 18 of the 70 matches they have played. India are the only team to register more wins than England during this period. Sri Lanka played most number of ODIs (71) but ended up with just 17 wins and a staggering 49 losses. Sri Lanka’s win-loss ratio of 0.346 is the worst among the top tens who will participate in the World Cup.

Namibia, Netherlands, Oman and USA have ODI status but have not played enough matches to figure on the rankings table. Three of the four teams who were awarded ODI status at the end of the World Cricket League Division 2 will join the rankings once they have played the requisite eight qualifying matches. However, PNG join the rankings immediately having played several ODIs prior to April 2018. The Netherlands, who already had ODI status, will need to play two more ODIs to achieve a ranking.

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In Tests, India have retained their top position and lead second-placed New Zealand by just 3 points. The only change in the Test rankings comes with England overtaking Australia for the fourth position. During the calculation period, India won 23 of the 38 games. England (41) played the most number of Tests during this period.

 

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