New Delhi: Two consecutive 50-over series victories over England and the West Indies have propelled India to third place in the fresh ICC ODI Rankings. New Zealand is currently leading the list, and after that, England is occupying the second place.
The ICC revealed the new rankings on Thursday, July 28. India whitewashed the West Indies 3-0 and that helped the men in blue to achieve the third position with 110 points. New Zealand and England are ahead of India; they have 128 and 119 points, respectively.
India performed splendidly on Caribbean soil despite the absence of several senior players. The Shikhar Dhawan-led side not only swept the series 3-0 but became the first Indian side to achieve this feat on West Indies soil.
The West Indies’ poor performance has pushed them to ninth place in the ICC ODI Rankings, having lost nine conservative matches. The team needs a killer instinct so that they can’t falter, at least in close matches.
India started the year 2022 with a devastating series loss to South Africa but has been on the right track since then. The series win against the West Indies is the third victory of the year on the trot.
The Men in Blue have been clinical since losing the series against the Proteas, winning 8 of their last 9 matches in One-Day Internationals.
Credit should be given to the youngsters as they never turned nervous, even at crunch time, and delivered their best, which helped the team to blank the hosts in the series. The bench strength of Indian cricket is strong, so the competition is fierce for every place in the team.
Wasim Haque
