India puts its number-one ranking on the line

India, which vaulted seven places to first after sweeping aside Australia last week, needs to win the series against Sri Lanka to retain the coveted position. In contrast, Sri Lanka will also aim to win the series, which will help it leapfrog India and the West Indies into the top spot.

With the ICC World Twenty20 2016 starting in less than four weeks, this series is extremely crucial for both sides. India and Sri Lanka will not only aim to find the winning combination and momentum, but also target entering the tournament as the number-one ranked side, which will serve as an additional confidence-booster.

Following this series, India and Sri Lanka will feature in the Asia Cup Twenty20 tournament in Bangladesh before launching their ICC World Twenty20 campaigns on 15 and 17 March respectively. Sri Lanka will defend the title it won in Bangladesh in 2014 in the tournament to be staged from 8 March to 3 April, while India will try to repeat its ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 glory when it lifted the most prestigious trophy in the sport in front of its fans in Mumbai.

The following are the series permutations:

If India wins 3-0 – India (1st) 127; Sri Lanka (7th) 112
If India wins 2-1 – India (1st) 122; Sri Lanka (4th) 116
If Sri Lanka wins 2-1 – India (3rd) 117; Sri Lanka (1st) 121
If Sri Lanka wins 3-0 – India (7th) 112; Sri Lanka (1st) 125

The MRF Tyres ICC T20I predictor function is available here here.

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 MS 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.

Series schedule:

India v Sri Lanka

9 Feb – 1st T20I, Pune

12 Feb – 2nd T20I, Ranchi

14 Feb – 3rd T20I, Visakhapatnam

MRF Tyres ICC T20I Championship (as of 7 February, before the start of India-Sri Lanka series)

RANK            TEAM                        POINTS

1          India                120

2          West Indies     118

3          Sri Lanka         118

4          England           117

5          New Zealand  116

6          South Africa   115

7          Pakistan           113

8          Australia          110

9          Afghanistan    80

10        Scotland          69

11        Bangladesh     64

12        Hong Kong     62

13        Netherlands     59

14        Zimbabwe       54

15        Ireland             54

16        UAE                14

(Developed by David Kendix)

MRF Tyres ICC T20I Rankings

Batsmen (top 10)

Rank      Player                   Team     Pts          Ave         HS Rating

   1           Virat Kohli            Ind          892         50.62     897 v Eng at Edgbaston 2014

   2           Aaron Finch          Aus         868         41.61     892 v Ban at Mirpur 2014

   3           Alex Hales            Eng         795         34.71     866 v Ind at Edgbaston 2014

   4           Faf du Plessis        SA           758         39.28     843 v Ban at Mirpur 2015

   5           Martin Guptill       NZ          741         34.70     793 v SA at Hamilton 2012

   6           Kane Williamson NZ          733         36.69     737 v Pak at Hamilton 2016

   7           Chris Gayle           WI          703         35.15     831 v Aus at Colombo (RPS) 2012

   8           H. Masakadza     Zim         699!       31.42     699 v Ban at Khulna 2016

   9           M. Shahzad          Afg         681!       30.86     681 v Zim at Sharjah 2016

  10         Kusal Perera         SL           678*      27.09     751 v SA at Chittagong 2014

Bowlers (top 10)

Rank      Player                   Team     Pts          Avge      Econ      HS Rating

   1           Sunil Narine          WI          773         17.75     5.69       817 v Pak at St. Vincent 2013

   2           R. Ashwin              Ind          692         26.45     7.27       717 v SA at Mirpur 2014

   3           Shahid Afridi        Pak         672         23.90     6.60       814 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2009

   4           S. Senanayake     SL           671*      17.45     6.19       712 v Eng at The Oval 2014

   5           Graeme Cremer   Zim         669!       16.59     6.72       669 v Ban at Khulna 2016

   6           Lasith Malinga     SL           657         21.02     7.27       684 v WI at Colombo (RPS) 2015

   7           M. McClenaghan NZ          643!       25.80     7.68       643 v Pak at Wellington 2016

   8           Imran Tahir          SA           641*      15.77     6.45       675 v WI at Johannesburg 2015

   9           Dawlat Zadran     Afg         636!       18.83     7.35       636 v Zim at Sharjah 2016

  10         N. Kulasekara      SL           628         23.43     7.25       676 v Aus at Melbourne 2013

All-rounders (top five)

Rank      Player                   Team     Pts          HS Rating

   1           Shane Watson      Aus         363        557 v SA at Colombo (RPS) 2012

   2           Shakib Al Hasan Ban        349        408 v Pak at Mirpur 2015

   3           Shahid Afridi        Pak         330        413 v NZ at Dubai 2009

   4           M. Hafeez             Pak         303        441 v SL at Dubai 2013

   5           Angelo Mathews  SL           289!       289 v NZ at New Plymouth 2016