Pakistan have one eye on ODI rankings in tri-series final

Pakistan will look to put their best foot forward when they face Sri Lanka in the ODI tri-series final in Lahore on Saturday.

Victory in front of their home fans would be a shot in the arm for a Pakistan team that is turning things around in white-ball cricket; they have a 6-4 win-loss record in ODIs this year and are 11-5 in T20s.

Teams have started the countdown to the 2027 ODI World Cup, which is less than a year away. Victory on Saturday will help Pakistan plan for the showpiece tournament in southern Africa in a stronger position.

For Pakistan, there will be another motivating factor.

Shaheen Afridi's team are currently ranked fourth in the world in one-day cricket. It is easily their best ranking across all three formats, and there is scope for improvement in a relatively short span.

Pakistan have 103 ranking points in the ICC table, just behind third-ranked South Africa (104 points) and marginally ahead of fifth-placed Australia (102).

New Zealand are second in the table on 109 points and India on top with 115.

All top five teams will be in action over the coming weeks, which will make for a thrilling battle in the ICC rankings table.

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Pakistan have just one more ODI scheduled for the rest of the year – the tri-series final on Saturday. If they win that match, Pakistan will close out the year on 104 points, according to the ICC rankings predictor.

Thereafter, their standing in the table will be decided by results in other bilateral ODI series scheduled over the coming weeks.

India play a five-match ODI series in New Zealand while South Africa host Bangladesh for a three-match series. England also play three ODIs in Australia next month.

If India win all five one-day matches against the Kiwis, which is unlikely, Bangladesh beat the Proteas and England win even one match in Australia, Pakistan will climb to second in the ODI rankings while still on 104 points. If not, they will most likely be placed third.

It would be a remarkable turn of events for a team that struggled to even qualify for the knockout rounds in recent ICC tournaments.

India's top spot in danger

Top-ranked India will be looking over their shoulder when the ODI series against New Zealand begins next week.

If the Kiwis win the series by a margin of 4-1 or better, they will overtake India to become the top-ranked one-day team. Any other result and Shubman Gill's side will retain top spot.

India have been in red-hot form in the T20 series in New Zealand, blazing their way to victory in the first three matches. However, New Zealand's most experienced players like Tom Latham, Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra will be back for the one-day leg, and the hosts will be favourites in the longer formats.

One mitigating factor is the availability of top names, as both sides will be shuffling their squads to prepare for the Test series which follows the ODIs. India have decided not to field pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah in the ODIs, preserving him for the two-match Test series as they aim to bounce back from successive whitewashes at home against New Zealand and South Africa.