2015 World Cup contenders aim to improve ICC rankings

Dubai, Oct 5 (IANS) Preparations for next year's ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will go up a notch this week when Pakistan host Australia in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in a three-match One-Day International (ODI) series, and World Champions and No.1 ranked India welcome the West Indies for a five-match ODI series, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said Sunday.

The first of the two simultaneous series gets underway at Sharjah Cricket Stadium Tuesday, and a 3-0 series victory for Australia will see it ascend to 114 points. This result will give the four-time World Champions the No.1 rankings on the ICC ODI Team Rankings provided the West Indies win, at least, two matches in their five-ODI series against India, which starts Wednesday in Kochi.

This scenario will see India stay on 113 ratings points, alongside South Africa, but it will be ranked behind the Proteas when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point to slip from the No.1 spot.

However, if India win all five matches of the series, they will rise to 116 ratings point and grab sole position on top of the table. A 4-1 win for India and 3-0 win for Australia will put both the sides on 114 ratings points, but Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side will retain the number-one position by a fraction of a point.

Australia, who trail third-ranked Sri Lanka by a fraction of a point, will move ahead of Angelo Mathews' side if they win the series against Pakistan.

If India beat the West Indies 3-2 and Australia defeat Pakistan 2-1, then South Africa will move to the top of the table.

Team rankings:
1. India 113 rating points
2. South Africa 113
3. Sri Lanka 111
4. Australia 111
5. England 107
6. Pakistan 100
7. New Zealand 98
8. West Indies 96
9. Bangladesh 69
10. Zimbabwe 58