India Retain No. 1 ODI Ranking As New Zealand Closes Gap

DUBAI- India has retained the No. 1 position in the latest ICC Men’s ODI Team Rankings following the annual update released by the International Cricket Council on May 11, although its lead at the top has narrowed.

India’s rating slipped by one point from 119 to 118, while New Zealand gained two points to move to 113, reducing the gap between the top two teams from eight points to five. Despite the slight decline, India continues to lead the ODI rankings and had also retained the No. 1 spot in the ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings in last week’s update.

Australia, the reigning ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup champion, remained third with an unchanged rating of 109.

The biggest movement within the top five came from South Africa, which overtook Pakistan to move into fourth place. South Africa gained four rating points to reach 102, while Pakistan dropped four points to 98 and slipped to fifth position.

Sri Lanka retained sixth place despite losing two points and now has 96 rating points, while Afghanistan stayed seventh with 93 points after a marginal drop. England remained eighth after gaining one point, while Bangladesh held ninth place with 84 points.

The gap between Bangladesh and 10th-placed West Indies widened after the West Indies lost three rating points to fall to 74.

Outside the top 10, Ireland moved above Zimbabwe into 11th place after gaining two rating points. Zimbabwe slipped to 12th following a one-point decline.

The United States climbed above Scotland into 13th place after improving its rating to 46 points. Scotland dropped one position after losing one point.

Further down the rankings, the Netherlands registered one of the strongest gains in the latest update, adding four points to move to 44, while Oman improved to 33 points.

Nepal suffered a four-point drop to 25, while Namibia improved marginally to 23.

At the bottom of the table, the United Arab Emirates climbed above Canada into 19th position after gaining three points. Canada recorded the sharpest decline in the latest update, losing six points to fall to the bottom of the rankings with a rating of 10.

The ICC annual update considers performances over a defined rankings period, with recent results carrying greater weight in determining team ratings.

Alongside India’s continued dominance in ODI and T20I cricket, Australia currently leads the ICC Men’s Test Team Rankings and also tops both the ICC Women’s ODI and Women’s T20I Team Rankings. (IANS)