Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and West Indies will aim to consolidate their positions on the ICC ODI Team Rankings in their bid to qualify directly for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 when they will feature in a three-match ODI series starting in Guyana on Friday, 7 April, (tomorrow). West Indies, the 1975 and 1979 world champions, are presently sitting in ninth position on 84 points, five points behind eighth-ranked 1992 winners Pakistan. Bangladesh, who recently drew their three-match series with Sri Lanka, are seventh on 92 points. West Indies leads Pakistan 15-13 on a head-to-head at home and have a chance to move ahead of the visiting side. But to make it happen, they will have to win all three matches. If they are able to achieve this, then they will join the green shirts on 87 points and will be ranked eighth as they will be ahead by a fraction of a point.

In contrast, if Pakistan, who have won 11 of 19 matches against the West Indies in the West Indies this decade, win all the three matches, then they will join Bangladesh on 92 points and will be ranked ahead of their Asian rival by a fraction of a point. The series is set up for a fascinating contest as crucial ranking points are up for grabs that can go a long way in helping them to qualify automatically for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. England and the seven other top teams on 30 September 2017 will qualify directly for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 with the remaining four teams getting a second chance through a 10-team ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifying tournament in 2018. This will also be the final series before the annual update is carried out on May 1 to ensure the table continues to reflect teams’ recent form with older results being discarded. This, in turn, means when the ODI team rankings are overhauled on 1 May, the table will reflect all matches from May 1, 2014 with matches played from May 1, 2016 to carry 100 percent weighting.

Meanwhile, in the ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen, Pakistan’s Babar Azam will start as the highest-ranked batsman from either side in ninth position. Mohammad Hafeez is the next highest-ranked batsman in 26th position and Sarfraz Ahmed (39th). The West Indies’ highest-ranked batsman is skipper Jason Holder in 89th position. South Africa captain AB de Villiers is the number-one ranked batsman and he is followed by Australia’s David Warner and Virat Kohli of India. Jason Holder (15th) leads the bowlers’ pack from either side, while Hafeez (37th) and Imad Wasim (47th) will also be aiming to improve their rankings. In the all-rounders’ category, which is headed by Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan, Hafeez (third) and Holder (ninth) feature prominently.