India can be No. 2 with win in England ODIs

Dubai: Going by the present form, it looks highly unlikely but if India can manage to beat England by a 4-1 margin or better in the upcoming one-day series, they can climb to second spot from third in the ICC ranking chart.

World champions India (117) are placed third behind Sri Lanka (119) in the list, headed by Australia (130)

Australia's 3-2 series win has restricted Sri Lanka to earn only one rating point which, in turn, has given India a chance to reclaim the second position.

To achieve the number-two position, India will have to beat England by 4-1 or whitewash the hosts in the five-match series, starting at Chester-le-Street on September 3.

Meanwhile, in the rankings for ODI batsmen, Virat Kohli has entered into the top five with a gain of one position and sachin Tendulkar re-entered into the top 10 with a similar gain.

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni lost a place to find himself at number nine.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is the only Indian bowler in the top-10 as he lost one position to be at 10.

Australia's fast bowlers Mitchell Johnson, who along with Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga was the leading wicket-taker in the recent series with 11, has jumped four places to claim third position while Malinga, who recorded the third hat-trick of his career in Monday's ODI, has jumped 19 places to claim 11th position.

Dough Bollinger's nine wickets in the series has helped him return to the top-10 in seventh position after vaulting 15 places while Brett Lee has been rewarded with a jump of four places after his eight wickets in four matches which has put him just behind Malinga in 14th position.

Graeme Swann of England is on top of the bowling chart but leads New Zealand's Daniel Vettori by just six points.

In the list of batsmen, former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardena has returned to the top 20 in 17th position after rising five places following his series contribution of 180 runs which made him the fourth most successful batsman in the series behind Michael Clarke (242), Ricky Ponting (196) and Shane Watson (185).

While Watson and Ponting have retained their third and 15th positions, respectively, Clarke has moved up two places to seventh position.

The batting table is headed by South Africa's Hashim Amla while his captain, AB de Villiers, is in second position.

There is no change in the top three of the rankings for all-rounders which are still led by Watson.