Important points in the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings will be up for grabs this month, with seven sides chasing No. 1-ranked South Africa and second-ranked India in 17 ODIs.
A packed month of 50-over cricket will commence in Wellington on January 6, when fifth-ranked New Zealand and sixth-ranked ICC Champions Trophy winner Pakistan will square-off in the first of five ODIs. The series will culminate in Wellington on January 19 and both sides will aim to rise up the order.
New Zealand (112 points) lead Pakistan (99 points) by 13 points and can open the gap to as wide as 19 points if they win all five matches. However, if the series result is reversed, Pakistan will narrow the gap with New Zealand to just two points.
World champions and third-ranked Australia will host fourth-ranked England, also in a five-match series, which will start in Melbourne on January 14 and conclude in Perth on January 28. Both sides are on equal points at 114, but Australia are ranked above England when the points are calculated beyond the decimal point.
This means the side that wins the series will break clear of their opponents. If Australia win all five matches, they will rise to 119 points and England will drop to 110 points. If England sweep the series, they will move to 118 points and Australia will slip to 110 points.
Mirpur will be the stage of the tri-series involving hosts Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, with the series starting on January 15 at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium.
Seventh-ranked Bangladesh (92 points) will enter the series ahead of eighth-ranked Sri Lanka (84 points) and 10th-ranked Zimbabwe (52 points).
In this series, Bangladesh will have a chance to finish as high as 95 points, Sri Lanka 87 points and Zimbabwe 61 points, while Bangladesh can finish as low as 84 points, Sri Lanka 81 points and Zimbabwe 51 points (which would leave them behind Afghanistan by a fraction of a point).
The series will be incredibly important to Zimbabwe, whio will be bidding to qualify for World Cup 2019 on home turf in the World Cup Qualifier in March. The finalists from the Zimbabwe event will join the eight top-ranked sides in the ICC’s pinnacle 50-over tournament and, in addition to the hosts, some of the strong contenders to assemble in Bulawayo and Harare include ICC Intercontinental Cup champions Afghanistan, Ireland, ICC World Cricket League Championship holders Netherlands, Scotland and Windies.
In the Dhaka series, Zimbabwe will not only try to provide maximum exposure to their players but will also pit themselves against more experienced and skilled opponents, which, in turn, will help them prepare for the challenging ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier.
In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen, Australia’s third-ranked David Warner will have an opportunity to move to the top of the table as No. 1-ranked Virat Kohli and second-ranked AB de Villiers do not wear coloured clothing until February 1.
Warner is 11 points behind Kohli, and trails de Villiers by seven points. A few very strong performances against England will potentially help him reclaim the coveted position, which he first achieved 12 months ago before de Villiers replaced him in March. Kohli went top of the table following the group stage matches in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017.
Babar Azam (fourth), Kane Williamson (10th), Ross Taylor (11th) and Martin Guptill (15th) are the high-ranking batsmen from Pakistan and New Zealand to feature inside the top-20 and looking to climb.
In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for ODI Bowlers, Pakistan’s Hasan Ali will begin as the No. 1-ranked bowler and will aim to widen the gap with second-ranked Imran Tahir of South Africa, who is likely to feature in the series against India in February. The two bowlers are separated by 16 points.
Hasan Ali, the Player of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, had started 2017 in 75th position and climbed to No. 1 following a successful series against Sri Lanka in the United Arab Emirates. He is the only Pakistan bowler to feature inside the top-20, with the next highest-ranked bowler being Mohammad Amir in 26th position.
Trent Boult is New Zealand’s highest-ranked bowler in fourth position and has India’s Jasprit Bumrah firmly within his sights. The Black Caps fast bowler trails the Indian by six points and a few strong performances will potentially help him break into the top-three.
New Zealand’s left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner and fast bowler Matt Henry are the other two bowlers to feature inside the top-20, in 10th and 17th positions respectively. Only 37 points separate the two teammates.
In the all-rounders’ category, Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez is ranked No. 1 and leads Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan by six points. The Bangladesh left-arm spinner has a chance to move to the top as his Asian rival will be featuring in the series against New Zealand only as a batsman. New Zealand’s highest-ranked all-rounder is Santner in ninth spot.
New Zealand v Pakistan
6 Jan – 1st ODI, Wellington
9 Jan – 2nd ODI, Nelson
13 Jan – 3rd ODI, Dunedin
16 Jan – 4th ODI, Hamilton
19 Jan – 5th ODI, Wellington
Australia v England
14 Jan – 1st ODI, Melbourne
19 Jan – 2nd ODI, Brisbane
21 Jan – 3rd ODI, Sydney
26 Jan – 4th ODI, Adelaide
28 Jan – 5th ODI, Perth
Tri-series in Bangladesh
15 Jan – Bangladesh v Zimbabwe, Mirpur (d/n)
17 Jan – Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe, Mirpur (d/n)
19 Jan – Bangladesh v Sri Lanka, Mirpur (d/n)
21 Jan – Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe, Mirpur (d/n)
23 Jan – Bangladesh c Zimbabwe, Mirpur (d/n)
25 Jan – Bangladesh v Sri Lanka, Mirpur (d/n)
27 Jan – Final, Mirpur (d/n)
MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings (as on 4 January 2018):
Rank Team Points
1. South Africa 121
2. India 119
3. Australia 114
4. England 114
5. New Zealand 112
6. Pakistan 99
7. Bangladesh 92
8. Sri Lanka 84
9. Windies 76
10. Zimbabwe 52
11. Afghanistan 51
12. Ireland 44
MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings (as on 4 January 2018):
BATSMEN (top 20)
Rank Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
1 Virat Kohli Ind 876 55.74 889 v NZ at Kanpur 2017
2 AB de Villiers SA 872 54.06 902 v NZ at Auckland 2015
3 David Warner Aus 865 44.94 880 v Pak at Adelaide 2017
4 Babar Azam Pak 846*! 58.60 846 v SL at Sharjah 2017
5 Rohit Sharma Ind 816 45.23 825 v SL at Mohali 2017
6 Quinton de Kock SA 808! 45.85 808 v Ban at East London 2017
7 Joe Root Eng 802 50.00 808 v Win at Bristol 2017
8 Faf du Plessis SA 773 43.90 791 v SL at Cape Town 2017
9 Hashim Amla SA 766 51.25 901 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012
10 Kane Williamson NZ 750 46.23 798 v SA at Centurion 2015
11 Ross Taylor NZ 735 44.99 743 v Zim at Harare 2015
12 MS Dhoni Ind 729 51.55 836 v Aus at Delhi 2009
13 Steve Smith Aus 728 43.23 752 v Pak at Sydney 2017
14 Shikhar Dhawan Ind 726 44.86 794 v SA at Melbourne 2015
15 Martin Guptill NZ 717 42.71 789 v SA at Hamilton 2017
16 Tamim Iqbal Ban 677 34.32 688 v Aus at The Oval 2017
17 Aaron Finch Aus 674 36.56 743 v Eng at Melbourne 2015
18 Alex Hales Eng 660 37.89 705 v NZ at Cardiff 2017
19 Mushfiqur Rahim Ban 658 32.92 671 v Zim at Mirpur 2015
20 Eoin Morgan Eng 650 38.16 690 v Aus at The Oval 2010
BOWLERS (top 20)
Rank Player Team Points Avge Eco. Highest Rating
1 Hasan Ali Pak 759*! 19.82 5.11 759 v SL at Sharjah 2017
2 Imran Tahir SA 743 23.72 4.64 786 v SL at Johannesburg 2017
3 Jasprit Bumrah Ind 729* 22.71 4.74 731 v SL at Mohali 2017
4 Trent Boult NZ 723 24.65 4.99 766 v Ind at Delhi 2016
5 Josh Hazlewood Aus 714 23.85 4.69 732 v Eng at Edgbaston 2017
6 Kagiso Rabada SA 708 26.08 5.05 724 v Eng at Lord’s 2017
7 Mitchell Starc Aus 684 20.13 4.81 783 v NZ at Melbourne 2015
8 Rashid Khan Afg 649*! 14.48 3.91 649 v Ire at Sharjah 2017
9 Liam Plunkett Eng 646! 30.22 5.77 646 v Win at Southampton 2017
10 Mitchell Santner NZ 644! 32.11 4.92 644 v Win at Christchurch 2017
11 Akshar Patel Ind 643* 31.31 4.43 663 v Aus at Nagpur 2017
12 Adil Rashid Eng 639 32.02 5.55 655 v Ban at Chittagong 2016
13 Sunil Narine Win 636 26.46 4.12 791 v SL at Jamaica 2013
14 Chris Woakes Eng 635 31.45 5.58 651 v SA at Headingley 2017
15 B. Kumar Ind 621 36.89 4.93 657 v Win at Dharamsala 2014
16 M. Nabi Afg 612 32.06 4.29 653 v Zim at Harare 2017
17 Matt Henry NZ 607 25.31 5.58 675 v Aus at Hamilton 2016
18 Morne Morkel SA 587 24.48 4.94 717 v SL at East London 2012
19 Pat Cummins Aus 580 29.24 5.41 588 v Ind at Indore 2017
20 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 578 29.95 4.44 717 v Zim at Chittagong 2009
ALL-ROUNDERS (top five)
Rank Player Team Points Highest Rating
1 M. Hafeez Pak 352 438 v Ind at Kolkata 2013
2 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 346 453 v Zim at Chittagong 2009
3 Angelo Mathews SL 321 427 v Eng at Colombo (RPS) 2014
4 Mohammad Nabi Afg 316 349 v Ire at Greater Noida 2017
5 Ben Stokes Eng 293 299 v Win at Bristol 2017
