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Will India defend their No 1 ranking against Australia in ODIs?

India's No 1 ranking will be on the line when Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men square off against Australia in a seven-match ODI series starting in Pune on Sunday.

India start the series as the No 1 ranked ODI side with 123 ratings points, with Australia in second place on 115 ratings points.

To retain the top spot, India have to win two or more matches in the series while Australia will have to win the series 6-1 or better to reclaim the No 1 position.

In the event of a 6-1 series win for Australia, it will gain six ratings points to move to top spot on 121 ratings points, while India will drop to second position with 118 ratings points (a loss of five ratings points).

Australia last held top spot in July 2012.

Jadeja could retain top spot

Meanwhile, India spinner Ravindra Jadeja will start the series as the joint No 1-ranked bowler in the ODI rankings.

Jadeja shares the position with West Indies' Sunil Narine, and has the opportunity to be sole claimant of the top spot for the first time in his career.

The Australian pace duo of Clint McKay and Mitchell Johnson are the other bowlers inside the top 10 of the rankings (seventh and eighth respectively) with an opportunity to make an upward movement.

India's Ravichandran Ashwin in 18th and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar in 20th are the other bowlers inside the top 20 of the rankings for ODI Bowlers who will be seen in action during the series.

Four batsmen in top-10

The series will also feature as many as four batsmen who ranked inside the top 10  -- Virat Kohli (fourth), MS Dhoni (seventh), George Bailey (ninth) and Shane Watson (10th).

India's Suresh Raina in 16th place is the only other batsman inside the top 20, on either side.

The ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen is headed by South Africa's Hashim Amla, with his captain AB de Villiers in second place and Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara in third position.