Pakistan has a chance to improve its ranking in the Reliance ICC ODI
Championship when it goes head-to-head with World Cup finalist Sri Lanka
in a five-match ODI series which starts at the Dubai International
Cricket Stadium in Dubai on Friday.Second-ranked Sri Lanka is presently sitting on 119 ratings points, just
one ahead of world champion India, while sixth-ranked Pakistan trails
fifth-ranked England by five ratings points.However, all this will change depending how the series between the Asian rivals pans out.If Pakistan wins the series 4-1, it will move ahead of England to fifth
position on 108 ratings points - its best ranking since May 2009 - while
Sri Lanka will drop to fourth position on 112 ratings points.A 5-0 victory will earn Pakistan nine ratings points which, in turn,
will put it on 110 ratings points and fourth position on the
championship table - its best since November 2008 - while Sri Lanka
would slip to sixth position on 109 ratings points.In a sharp contrast, a 5-0 win for Sri Lanka will lift it to 123 ratings
points - seven behind number-one ranked Australia - while a 4-1 win
will earn it two rankings points. These are the only two scenarios where
there will be no changes to the championship table as even a 3-2 win
for Sri Lanka will mean it will slip down the ladder.A 3-2 series win will put Sri Lanka alongside India on 118 ratings
points but when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point,
India will be ranked second while Sri Lanka will be in third position.To find out exactly how Pakistan-Sri Lanka series will affect the
Championship table, please click here. The ODI Championship table,
unlike the Test Championship table, is updated after every match.In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen, Sri Lanka's Kumar
Sangakkara is the highest-ranked batsman from either side in seventh
position. If the former Sri Lanka captain manages to display the same
form he showed in the Test series, which helped him share the player of
the series award with Saeed Ajmal, then he has a very good chance of
moving as high as fifth.Other batsmen aiming for upward movements are Tillekeratne Dilshan
(11th), Mahela Jayawardena (15th), Umar Akmal (17th), Angelo Mathews
(35th), Mohammad Hafeez (38th), Younus Khan (41st), Upul Tharanga (43rd)
and Shahid Afridi (48th).In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, Pakistan boasts
four bowlers inside the top 30 with Saeed Ajmal in sixth spot, Shahid
Afridi in 18th position, Umar Gul ranked 25th and Mohammad Hafeez in
29th place.For Sri Lanka, Lasith Malinga is the highest-ranked bowler in eighth
position, 19 points behind Saeed Ajmal, while Suraj Randiv is 42nd.In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders, fourth-ranked
Hafeez and fifth-ranked Shahid Afridi have a good opportunity to gain
one place each by moving ahead of third-ranked Jacques Kallis of South
Africa.The ODI player rankings will next be updated on Thursday 24 November.
Series schedule:11 Nov - First ODI (d/n), Dubai International Cricket Stadium
14 Nov - Second ODI (d/n), Dubai International Cricket Stadium
18 Nov - Third ODI (d/n), Dubai International Cricket Stadium
20 Nov - Fourth ODI (d/n), Sharjah Cricket Stadium
23 Nov - Fifth ODI (d/n), Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
