India can move into third place in the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship if it remains unbeaten in the tri-nation series involving Pakistan and host Bangladesh, starting in Dhaka on Sunday.
Currently on the same ratings points as New Zealand (113) but behind the Black Caps when ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point, India can take a two-point lead over Daniel Vettori's side if it wins the two league matches and then the final on June 14.
However, if Pakistan wins both its league matches and the final, it will leapfrog India to share third position with New Zealand on 113 ratings points but behind the Black Caps by a fraction of a point, with India dropping to fifth position on 111 ratings points.
At the top of the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship table, South Africa leads Australia by a fraction of a ratings point. However, Australia could regain the top position as it goes head-to-head with the West Indies in a five-match series from June 24 while South Africa's ODI series against England will not start until August 22.
With just eight ratings points separating New Zealand in third position and England in seventh, the table is very congested and there is plenty of scope for the situation to change over the coming weeks and months as no less than 45 ODIs will be played in the lead-up to the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in Pakistan in September.
These matches will not only provide the big guns with the opportunity to gain places in the championship table but will also help them find the winning combination for the Pakistan tournament in which the top eight teams in the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship as on March 11 2008 will participate.
The short and sharp tournament will be played under a new format of two groups of four, semi-finals and final with 15 matches to be held in 18 days.
India maestro Sachin Tendulkar will miss the Bangladesh tri-series and also the Asia Cup, to be held in Pakistan later this month. This means he will not be able to regain his top position in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen, which he conceded to South Africa's Graeme Smith in April.
In fact, Tendulkar may even fall below third-placed Ricky Ponting of Australia and Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf in fourth position if the two batsmen strike gold in their respective series. Only 14 ratings points separate Tendulkar from Yousuf.
However, there is a good opportunity for India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh to gain some places in the batting chart.
A string of good performances can help Dhoni break into the top five, as he trails fifth-placed Shivnarine Chanderpaul of the West Indies and Matthew Hayden of Australia by 12 ratings points.
Yuvraj can overtake 14th-placed Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka, who leads the India vice-captain by seven points.
Yousuf may be the only Pakistan batsman in the top 20 but captain Shoaib Malik (22nd) and opener Salman Butt (23rd) are within striking distance of entering the top 20. Shoaib trails 20th-placed Ian Bell of England by nine points while Salman is another six points behind.
Saqibul Hasan and Shahriar Nafees, in 38th and 39th positions respectively, are the highest-ranked Bangladesh batsmen with Tamim Iqbal and captain Mohammad Ashraful sitting in 53rd and 59th places, respectively.
In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, Pakistan's Shahid Afridi in 10th position is the highest-ranked bowler amongst the three participating teams. India's Harbhajan Singh is in 18th place but he has not been selected for the event.
Pakistan pace trio of Iftikhar Anjum, Sohail Tanvir and Umar Gul are 21st, 24th and 31st, respectively while Bangladesh's Abdur Razzak and Mashrafe Mortaza are in 27th and 28th positions, respectively.
India's highest-ranked bowler in Harbhajan's absence is Irfan Pathan in 38th place while Sreesanth (49th), RP Singh (66th), Piyush Chawla (101st) and Ishant Sharma (106th) will be hoping for an upward movement.
In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for all-rounders, Pakistan duo of Shoaib and Shahid occupy the top two places with only five ratings points separating them.
