India must win one game to retain 2nd spot

India will need to win at least a game in the upcoming one-dayer series against Australia to retain their current second position in the ICC ODI Team Champio-nships, even as second-placed Virat Kohli looks to close in on AB de Villiers in the batting chart. World champions Australia go head to head with former winners India in a five-match series in Perth on Tuesday.

Australia (127) lead second-ranked India (114) by 13 points and even if they lose all the five matches of the series, they will drop points but still finish a point ahead of India. In contrast, if India lose all the five matches, then they will slip behind SA and will join fourth-ranked New Zealand on 111 points, but will be ranked third when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point, an ICC release said.