Pakistan has won the five match One Day series even though it lost the fourth and fifth match with a 3-2 margin. Pakistan is currently ranked number 6th and West Indies on number 9th.
According to the ranking analysis on the website of ICC Pakistan stands on number 6th position with 102 rating points. A victory in the 5th and last match would have resulted in an unchanged figure but a defeat would have resulted in 102 becoming 100 and in case of West Indies who stood on number 9th, even though they had lost the series would have gained 3 points in winning the last match and losing the series 3-2.
This system has faced criticism from captain of Pakistan cricket team Shahid Afridi and the captain of Sri Lankan cricket team Kumar Sangakara who have called this method unfair.
I simply cannot understand this current ranking system as defeating the home team on their soil is a big achievement in any form of the game. In my opinion the ICC should look into this matter and come up with a better ranking formula.
KHABEER UL TANWIR
Lahore
