DUBAI – International Cricket Council has unveiled the latest ODI rankingsfor 2018.
Pakistan improved rankings this year, thanks to a dip in the performance ofteams like Australia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
The remaining teams’ positions remained the same during this period.
Australia suffered the worst patch in their performance as the Aussiesmanaged to win only 2 out of their 13 ODIs, the worst among the top 18international teams, which is alarming not just for the World Champions,but for the cricket fans as well. This meant a loss of 14 points this yearas Australia slid to the 6th position below Pakistan which was previouslyranked at 6th.
South Africa, another strong performer at the global stage, lost 9 pointsafter winning 9 games and losing 8 in the year. South Africa is the onlyother team than Australia to have lost more than 5 points this year. SouthAfrica has been displaced from 1st to 4th spot in the ICC rankings, despitewinning 9 matches; 6 of these matches have been against low-ranked sideslike Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.
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Afghanistan added 15 points – the most by any team – to claim the 10th spotfrom Zimbabwe, whereas England clinched 12 points to jump 3 places – thebiggest jump by any team – to be crowned the new number 1 team, thanks to17 wins and 6 losses in the calendar year.
Pakistan lost three points in the period, however, a dip in the rankingsfor South Africa and Australia helped Pakistan rise one spot to end theyear as the 5th ranked team.
