India have moved past Pakistan to become the No. 1 ranked team in ODIs ahead of the World Cup at home. As a result, they now occupy the top spot across formats, having already been No. 1 in Tests and T20Is. India are only the second team in men’s cricket history to achieve this feat after South Africa did it in August 2012.
Over the course of this month, India, Pakistan and Australia were all in contention for the top spot. Pakistan emerged with it at the end of the Asia Cup, even though they had a poor tournament. Australia’s challenge fell away after they lost three straight ODIs to South Africa. India went on to win their eighth Asia Cup title after consigning Sri Lanka to a heavy defeat in the final and backed that performance up by dispatching Pat Cummins’ team with ease. Mohammed Shami picked up a career-best five-for and four of their top six scored half-centuries.
India also have four players occupying the No. 1 positions across formats: Suryakumar Yadav is the No. 1 batter in T20Is, Mohammed Siraj is the No. 1 bowler in ODIs while R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are at the top of the bowling and allrounder charts in Tests.
India are set to play two more ODIs against Australia, in Indore and Rajkot respectively. They will also be playing three World Cup warm-up matches before opening their campaign in the tournament proper against Australia on October 8 in Chennai.
