Dravid's men eyeing fourth spot in ICC ODI Championship table

Dubai, Jan 27 (UNI) A series whitewash over West Indies will see Team India overtake Sri Lanka and New Zealand for the fourth spot on the LG ICC ODI Championship table.

India was as high as third in the table in April of last year, but debilitating losses in the Caribbean and South Africa and well as disappointing form at home in the ICC Champions Trophy in October plunged the side to sixth position.

But victories over the West Indies in Nagpur and Cuttack mean India has closed the gap on the sides immediately above it -- fourth-placed New Zealand, and Sri Lanka, in fifth position -- to just a single rating point.

And if India continues its winning run in Chennai and Vadodara (January 31) it will not only overtake Mahela Jayawardene's men but could do likewise with Stephen Fleming's line-up if New Zealand loses both its upcoming tri-series matches against Australia and England.

Two more wins for India would also leave it just two rating points adrift of neighbours Pakistan, although both sides are still a long way short of catching second-placed South Africa and table-topping world champions Australia.

Graeme Smith's side is 14 points clear of Pakistan prior to the two sides' five-match ODI series immediately before the World Cup.

Meanwhile Australia, which has gained three rating points since the start of its annual tri-series thanks to its unbeaten record, is now eight points ahead of the Proteas.

At the other end of the table, the West Indies' two losses have seen its rating slide and it is now just two points clear of eighth-placed England, itself in a run of poor results.

In the Rankings for ODI players, India's top-ranked batsman is Mahendra Singh Dhoni in sixth spot, and he has two team-mates for company in the top 20, with Dravid 15th and the fit-again Yuvraj Singh 18th.

Sachin Tendulkar lies 25th, Virender Sehwag is 31st and comeback man Sourav Ganguly re-enters the listing at 67th position after narrowly missing out on three figures in Nagpur.

Harbhajan Singh and the recalled Irfan Pathan are the side's two players inside the top 20 of the Rankings for ODI bowlers, while Ajit Agarkar lies just outside that select group in 22nd position and Zaheer Khan has risen seven places to joint 38th place.

Michael Hussey continues to dominate the batting list. The man named as ODI player of the year at last November's ICC Awards continues to show why he is regarded so highly in this form of the game and he has extended his lead over England's Kevin Pietersen at the top of the list.

England's current plight is best illustrated by the fact it has only one player among the top 25 batsmen -- Pietersen -- and he is out of action with a fractured rib. Their next highest ranked player is stand-in skipper Andrew Flintoff, climbing eight places to 26th position.

Flintoff is just about England's only bright spot in the Rankings as he is also the side's highest ranked bowler, up four places to 21st place, while his recent improvement in form with bat and ball has also moved him up one place to third in the all-rounder listings behind Shaun Pollock of South Africa and the West Indies' Chris Gayle.

New Zealand has four players inside the top 20 places for ODI bowlers with Daniel Vettori its highest achiever, up one place to fourth position and now just short of his best-ever haul of rating points.

The other Black Caps players among the top 20 bowlers are Shane Bond, Kyle Mills and all-rounder Jacob Oram.

Top 10 Teams: 1.Australia (134), 2.South Africa (126), 3.Pakistan (112), 4.New Zealand (109), 5.Sri Lanka (109), 6.India (108), 7.West Indies (101), 8.England (98), 9.Bangladesh (41), 10. Zimbabwe (23) UNI