Napier: India are leading the table with 120 ratings points, and enter the series leading eighth-ranked New Zealand by 36 ratings points. If India does not win the series, they will lose the No1 rank and as many as six ratings points. India enters the five-match ODI series against New Zealand at Napier on Sunday with their No1 spot in the team rankings at stake.
For New Zealand, a series win against India by any margin will mean that they will push up a place to seventh, ahead of the West Indies. A series loss for New Zealand, however, will not make any difference to their position on the rankings table.
If India does not manage to win the series, either Australia or England could stake a claim on the number-one rank. Australia and England are currently playing a five-match series, with the home team leading 1-0. India’s Virat Kohli will start the series in New Zealand as the highest-ranked batsman on either side.
Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja in sixth position will be the highest ranked bowler on either side. In fact, Jadeja is also the only player in the top 10 of the bowlers’ table who is likely to feature in the series. Among the top 20 bowlers, Ravichandran Ashwin (16th) and Kyle Mills (17th) are the others likely to feature in the series.
Outside the top 20, the bowlers likely to play are Bhuvaneshwar Kumar (24th), Tim Southee (26th), Nathan McCullum (28th), Mitchell McClenaghan (29th), Amit Mishra (39th), Mohammed Shami (41st) and Ishant Sharma (50th).
Bureau Report
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