India team drops to third position

India have slipped to third position in the ICC ODI ranking after going down 4-2 to Australia in seven-match ODI series.

Having begun the series with a genuine chance of topping the ICC ODI Championship table, India have now slipped back to third position after going down 4-2 to world champion Australia with the seventh and final ODI of the series having been washed out in Mumbai.

For Australia, it caps off a superb 10 weeks or so of one-day cricket, having beaten England 6-1 away from home, followed by a victorious performance at the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa and now an impressive series victory over Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team.

Notwithstanding a number of injuries to some of its first-choice players, Australia has showed the world that it deservedly sits atop the ODI Championship table, a position it briefly lost to both South Africa and India in recent months.

As recently as 20 September, the Aussies were ranked third behind India and the Proteas but now there are eight ratings points separating them from Graeme Smith's team.

However, with a five-ODI series coming up against England and with Australia concentrating on Test cricket until the third week in January, there is the opportunity for South Africa to close that gap.

Elsewhere, Zimbabwe has lost one ratings point following its two-nil series defeat to South Africa and now sits just a single point above Ireland in 10th position.

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