Australia have retained their position at the top of the ICC Men’s ODI Team Rankings following the annual update that drops results from the 2019-20 season and reflects all matches completed since May 2020. After the change, which gives matches played before May 2022 a 50 percent weight and matches played after that date a 100 percent weight, Australia leads Pakistan by two rating points at 118.
Pakistan, who briefly held the top spot on May 5 until losing the final ODI of their five-match home series to New Zealand and falling behind Australia, is one point ahead of India with 116 points.
If Pakistan had won the series against New Zealand 5-0, they would have retained their top spot in the ODI rankings even after the annual update. The top three teams in the 20-team standings, Australia, Pakistan, and India, are only separated by three points, making for an intriguing tussle at the top in the World Cup year.
The 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup is among the games that are being removed from the rankings. In the yearly update, both England and New Zealand, who competed in a thrilling final at Lord’s four years ago, have lost ground.
After dropping four points throughout the cycle, New Zealand is now in fourth place but is still 11 points behind India at 104. England, who will defend their World Cup title in India this year, have lost 10 points and are in fifth place with 101 points.
Afghanistan has passed former world champions Sri Lanka and the West Indies to take the sixth and seventh spots, respectively, while South Africa and Bangladesh are still in sixth and seventh place, respectively. The top eight teams have automatically qualified for the 2018 World Cup.
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