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Clean sweep against WI would push India to 2nd spot in ODIs


Dubai, June 25: Though on the face of it, India’s short trip to the Caribbean for just 4 ODIs may seem a futile exercise, the latest rankings released by the ICC offer some motivation to MS Dhoni’s men.

India would topple Australia from the second spot in the ICC one-day rankings and achieve their best ratings if they manage to whitewash the West Indies in the four-match series starting Friday.

India and Australia are currently locked at 122 ratings points but the world champions are a step ahead by a fraction of a point.

But a sweep in West Indies would help India gain one rating point needed to overtake Australia from the second position for the first time since the rankings were introduced in October, 2002.

However, even a 3-1 series victory for India would imply that they lose one point to drop behind Australia.

A 2-2 draw will put India on 119 ratings points and a 4-0 defeat will drop it further to 116 points, just four points ahead of fourth-placed New Zealand.

On the other end of spectrum, West Indies are languishing at the eighth position, 32 points behind India.

The West Indies, currently on 90 points, will gain nine points if they manage to register a 4-0 series win to narrow the gap with seventh placed Sri Lanka.

A 3-1 series win will lift it to 96 points, a 2-2 draw series will take it to 93 points and a 3-1 loss will leave it on 91 points.

Meanwhile, in the ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen, Dhoni leads the field but his West Indian counterpart Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and deputy Yuvraj Singh are breathing down the Indian skipper`s neck as only 46 points separate him from fourth-placed Yuvraj.

In the ICC Payer Rankings for ODI bowlers, Jerome Taylor is the highest-ranked bowler from either side in 14th place while Zaheer Khan, who has been rested for the series, is just one point behind in 16th spot. Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is just outside the top 20 in the 23rd place.

Yuvraj, meanwhile, has an excellent opportunity to leapfrog Andrew Flintoff in the second place of the ICC Player Rankings for ODI all rounder as the Indian vice-captain trails the Englishman by just six points.