India will climb ODI table with strong showing in Australia

India goes into the VB Series with Australia and Zimbabwe with a lot to play for in the ICC One-Day International Championship table.

India currently lies sixth in the official table but a strong performance could help it climb up to as high as third.

If India wins all of its eight matches against Australia and Zimbabwe and performs well in the best-of-three final it will overtake England, Sri Lanka and Pakistan in the official standings.

For example, if it wins the eight group matches and beats Australia 2-0 in the final its rating will rise from 105 to 116.

Failing this, India is still likely to climb the table if it combines victories against Zimbabwe with one or two victories over Australia. On the basis of the current standings it will go fourth if it beats Australia twice and Zimbabwe four times; or fifth if it combines one victory over Australia with a full compliment of victories over Zimbabwe.

In the event that India performs poorly, it could fall to as low as eighth in the official ODI table - six defeats in its opening six matches will see its rating slide to 97.

Australia's position at the top of the table is unlikely to be under threat - even if it loses all eight of its matches its rating will fall to 120 (two ahead of South Africa's current rating). It needs to win almost all of its matches to maintain its current exceptionally high rating of 136. A 100 per cent record would boost it to a new high of 139.

More than one victory for Zimbabwe will ensure that it improves its current rating. It will not be able to climb from ninth place in the table but a good series will enable it to close the gap on the top eight sides considerably.

Clive Lloyd from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Referees will officiate on the series. Steve Bucknor and Rudi Koertzen from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires will stand in alternate matches with Bucknor standing in the first and last matches. They will stand with officials appointed by Cricket Australia.

For the full ICC ODI Championship formula and to predict the impact future results will have on the ratings visit www.icc.cricket.org.

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