Pakistan gain advantage over West Indies in latest ICC ODI rankings

The International Cricket Council (ICC) released the latest ICC ODI rankings. The 1 May annual update of the rankings sees Pakistan eke out an advantage over the West Indies. Pakistan is currently placed at number 8 and have a considerable 9-point advantage over the West Indies. These ranking will come in handy since the top 8 ranked teams on 30 September 2017 shall qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

The West Indies team might be the one missing out on the bus to the direct qualification for the World Cup. They have already failed to be a participant in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. The annual update of the ICC rankings is carried out in order to ensure that the rankings reflect the most recent performances of the teams with older performances being discarded.

The update sees the matches played post 1 May 2014 being taken into consideration. From the previous rankings, Pakistan have slipped to 88 points from 90 points. On the other hand, West Indies have slumped to 79 points from 83 points. Bangladesh also lost a point in the update and is placed at number 7 with 91 points to their name. They trail Sri Lanka, the number 6th in the rankings, by just 2 points.

Both Bangladesh and West Indies will have their chances to better their rankings and possibly nose ahead of Sri Lanka and Pakistan respectively. Bangladesh have a tri-series in Ireland coming up prior to the Champions Trophy. West Indies has an ODI series against Afghanistan at home before a 5-match ODI series against England in September.

For the Pakistani team, the only possible tournament for them to increase their ratings is the Champions Trophy. South Africa continue to be at the top of the rankings with 123 points to their name. Australia follow them with 118 points, while India has 117 points to their credit to be third on the list.

Here is the ICC ODI Ranking Annual Update of May 1, 2017: