World champions Australia have dropped two places to fifth, while ICC Champions Trophy winners Pakistan have conceded three points in the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings following an action-packed month of white ball cricket, which saw 17 ODIs being played between seven sides in Australia, Bangladesh and New Zealand. While the 50-over tournament champions have slipped in the team rankings table, England and New Zealand have been rewarded for their impressive performances against Australia and Pakistan, respectively. England (116) have moved up to third after gaining two points  and New Zealand (115) have risen to fourth after earning three points.

Following a 4-1 series defeat, Australia are now fifth on 112 points, while Pakistan, after being swept aside 5-0 by New Zealand, are sixth on 96 points. The top five sides are still separated by just nine points.

In Bangladesh, the hosts went head to head with Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in a tri-series, which culminated on Saturday with Sri Lanka beating Bangladesh in the final by 79 runs. From this series, all three sides retained their pre-series rankings, but Bangladesh conceded two points to slip to 90 and Zimbabwe earned a point to move to 53. Sri Lanka stayed on 84 points.

The excitement of ODI cricket will continue in February, when South Africa will put its number-one ranking on the line against second-ranked India in a six-match series, which starts in Durban on Thursday, 1 February.

To retain the top spot, South Africa will have to draw the series, while India can top the ODI table if they win the series by 4-2 or better. However, India will slip behind England by a fraction of a point if South Africa win the series by 5-1 or better.

Also in action will be 11^th-ranked Afghanistan and 10^th-ranked Zimbabwe in Sharjah; the two sides will contest a five-ODI series in Sharjah from 9-19 February.

This series will be their final preparation before the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier, which begins in Bulawayo and Harare on 4 March. The top two sides from this 10-team tournament will progress to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, which will be staged in England and Wales from 30 May to 15 July next year.

Australia v England

The biggest mover in the top-50 batsmen is Australia’s Marcus Stoinis, who has vaulted 25 places to 28^th position after scoring 221 runs in the series against England. Aaron Finch, who was the leading run-getter with 275 runs, has gained two places and is now in 15^th position. The opener has now become his side’s second highest-ranked batsman, with David Warner sitting in third spot overall and captain Steve Smith slipping four places to 17^th.

England opener Jason Roy, who played a lead role in guiding his side to a 4-1 series win by contributing 250 runs, has jumped 12 places to 20^th spot. Roy is now England’s third highest-ranked batsman after Joe Root (up one place to sixth) and Jos Buttler, who has returned to the top 20 in 18^th position by rising three places.

Travis Head and Jonny Bairstow are the other batsmen from the series to move in the upward direction. Head has climbed seven spots and is now 22^nd after piloting Australia to their sole victory with 96 runs in a low scoring game in Adelaide, while Bairstow has gained eight places and is now 40^th after scoring 157 runs in the series.

Amongst the bowlers, Josh Hazlewood of Australia and England’s Chris Woakes have moved up one place each to fourth and 13^th, respectively, while Pat Cummins has risen five places to 14^th.

However, Mitchell Starc has slipped one place to eighth, while Liam Plunkett has plummeted eight places to 17^th. Adil Rashid, who was the leading wicket-taker in the series with 10 wickets, is now just four points behind the Windies’ 11^th-ranked Sunil Narine.

Outside the top-30, Mark Wood has jumped 12 places to join Mirwais Ashraf of Afghanistan and India’s Amit Mishra in 35^th position, while Moeen Ali is now in 38^th spot after climbing three places.

New Zealand v Pakistan

The biggest news in the latest player rankings has come from this series where ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year 2017 Hasan Ali has failed to defend his number-one position. The fast bowler has slipped four places to fifth after claiming six wickets in four matches.

This means South Africa’s Imran Tahir will start the series against India as the number-one bowler, while Virat Kohli will defend his number-one batting ranking from AB de Villiers, who is just four points behind.

Hasan Ali is not the only Pakistan bowler to lose ground. Mohammad Amir has also dropped five places to 31^st to join Mohammad Hafeez in equal 31^st position. Imad Wasim, who was unavailable for the series due to an injury, has slipped three places to 33^rd.

New Zealand bowlers were on fire in this series and Trent Boult, Mitchell Santner and Tim Southee have all made impressive gains.

Boult has moved up two places to second after finishing the series as the leading wicket-taker with nine wickets, Santner is now in seventh position after moving up three places following his six wickets, while Southee has lifted 14 places to 23^rd after bagging eight wickets.

Amongst the batsmen, Martin Guptill has been rewarded for finishing as the most successful batsman in the series (310 runs) with a rise of four places that has put him just outside the top-10 in 11^th position. In doing so, Guptill has leapfrogged Ross Taylor (12^th) to become his side’s second highest-ranked batsman after Kane Williamson, who has moved up two places to 8th following his 261 runs in the series.

Bangladesh tri-series

Shakib Al Hasan has returned to the top of the all-rounders’ list after scoring 163 runs with the bat and taking nine wickets with the ball. He has replaced Mohammad Hafeez, who is currently suspended from bowling and therefore played as a batsman in Pakistan’s series against New Zealand.

Among the batsmen, Tamim Iqbal has retained his 16^th position, Shakib has moved up three places to 30^th and Sikandar Raza of Zimbabwe has jumped nine places to 43^rd.

In the bowlers’ table, Mustafizur Rahman has gained 12 places and is now 19^th after his seven wickets, Tendai Chatara of Zimbabwe has vaulted 13 places to 40^th, Sri Lanka’s Akila Dananjaya has leaped 13 places to 45^th, while Rubel Hossain has moved to 58^th after rising eight places.

SA v India series:

1 February – 1^st ODI, Durban (d/n)

4 February – 2^nd ODI, Centurion (d)

7 February – 3^rd ODI, Cape Town (d/n)

10 February – 4^th ODI, Johannesburg (d/n)

13 February – 5^th ODI, Port Elizabeth (d/n)

16 February – 6^th ODI, Centurion (d/n)

Afghanistan v Zimbabwe series:

9 February – 1^st ODI, Sharjah (d/n)

11 February – 2^nd ODI, Sharjah (d/n)

13 February – 3^rd ODI, Sharjah (d/n)

16 February – 4^th ODI, Sharjah (d/n)

19 February – 5^th ODI, Sharjah (d/n)

MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings (as on 29 January, after Aus v Eng, NZ v Pak and tri-series in Bangladesh):

Rank    Team               Points

1.      South Africa      121

2.      India                 119

3.      England            116 (+2)

4.      New Zealand     115 (+3)

5.      Australia           112 (-2)

6.      Pakistan           96 (-3)

7.      Bangladesh      90 (-2)

8.      Sri Lanka          84 (-)

9.      Windies            76

10.   Zimbabwe         53 (+1)

11.   Afghanistan      51

12.   Ireland              44