Dubai: India need to win the upcoming Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka to retain their number one position in the ICC T20I Championship table.
India, who had vaulted seven places to first after sweeping aside Australia last week, host T20 World Cup defending champion Sri Lanka in a three-match series starting in Pune on Wednesday.
In contrast, Sri Lanka will also aim to win the series, which will help it leapfrog India and the West Indies to the top spot.
If India wins the series 3-0, the hosts will maintain its top spot while Sri Lanka will drop to seventh position.
For that matter, if India wins series 2-1 they will maintain their numero uno spot but Sri Lanka will climb to fourth spot.
But in case Sri Lanka wins the series 3-0, the islanders will dislodge India from the top position and Mahendra Singha Dhoni’s side will drop to seventh spot.
If Sri Lanka wins the series 2-1 then they will jump to the top spot while India will drop as low as seventh in the chart.
Meanwhile, India has rested number-one ranked T20I batsman Virat Kohli, which means his team-mate Suresh Raina will start as the highest-ranked batsman in 13th position.
Other batsmen featuring inside the top 20 include Tillakaratne Dilshan (14th), Rohit Sharma (17th) and Yuvraj Singh (20th).
India captain Dhoni is 38th, 108 points behind Yuvraj, while Shikhar Dhawan is 87th and Ajinkya Rahane 89th.
Among bowlers, India’s Ravichandran Ashwin will start in second place, 81 points behind number-one ranked Sunil Narine of the West Indies, while Lasith Malinga is sixth, Nuwan Kulasekara is 10th and Ravindra Jadeja is 18th.
Bowlers outside the top 20 include Bhuvneshwar Kumar (38th), Harbhajan Singh (56th), Thisara Perera (59th) and Dilshan (104th). In the all-rounders’ list, Yuvraj will enter the series in seventh position, 15 points behind fifth-ranked Mathews, who has been rested. Australia’s Shane Watson is ranked number one, 89 points ahead of Yuvraj. (PTI)
