Before the game against Bangladesh in Colombo on Friday (September 15), India were occupying the second spot on the ICC Men's ODI Team Rankings with 116 rating points, two points behind the top-ranked Australia.

Currently holding the pole position in the Test and T20I rankings, India had a great chance to claim the numero uno spot in ODIs if two conditions had been met – defeating Bangladesh in the Asia Cup fixture and hoping for South Africa to beat Australia in the fourth ODI of their five-match series in Centurion.

While the Proteas did the job for India by registering an emphatic 164-run victory over Australia, the Men in Blue themselves were at the receiving end of a narrow 6-run defeat against Bangladesh.

With this defeat, the Rohit Sharma-led side also slipped to No.3 in the rankings table with 114 rating points behind Pakistan and Australia. Both, Australia and Pakistan are currently separated by a narrow rating margin with the former having a rating of 115.259 and the latter having a rating of 114.889.

Even if Australia lose their final ODI to South Africa and India beat Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup final on Sunday (September 17), India would still not claim the No.1 ranking. In such a scenario, Australia would concede the top spot to Pakistan.

The tussle for the top spot will continue as India and Australia are due to square off in a three-match ODI series later this month ahead of their World Cup opener at Chepauk on October 8.

(With ICC Inputs)