Pakistan have a chance to improve their ranking in the Reliance ICC ODI Championship when they meet World Cup finalist Sri Lanka in a five-match ODI series which starts at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on Friday. Second-ranked Sri Lanka are presently perched with 119 ratings points, just one ahead of world champion India, while sixth-ranked Pakistan trail fifth-ranked England by five ratings points. However, all this will change depending how the series between the Asian rivals pans out.
If Pakistan win the series 4-1, they will move ahead of England to fifth position on 108 ratings points – their best ranking since May 2009 – while Sri Lanka will drop to fourth position on 112 ratings points. A 5-0 victory will earn Pakistan nine ratings points which, in turn, will put them on 110 ratings points and fourth position on the championship table – their best since November 2008 – while Sri Lanka would slip to sixth position on 109 ratings points. In a sharp contrast, a 5-0 win for Sri Lanka will lift them to 123 ratings points – seven behind number-one ranked Australia – while a 4-1 win will earn them two rankings points. These are the only two scenarios where there will be no changes to the championship table as even a 3-2 win for Sri Lanka will mean they will slip down the ladder. A 3-2 series win will put Sri Lanka alongside India on 118 ratings points but when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point, India will be ranked second while Sri Lanka will be in third position. In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen, Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara is the highest-ranked batsman from either side in seventh position. If the former SL captain manages to display the same form he showed in the Test series, which helped him share the player of the series award with Ajmal, then he has a very good chance of moving as high as fifth.
Rank Team Rating
1 Australia 130
2 Sri Lanka 119
3 India 118
4 South Africa 115
5 England 106
6 Pakistan 101
7 New Zealand 87
8 West Indies 78
9 Bangladesh 63
10 Zimbabwe 47
11 Ireland 41
12 Netherlands 15
13 Kenya 00
