How can Pakistan become No 1 ODI team ahead of ICC World Cup 2023?

India top the International Cricket Council (ICC) One Day International (ODIs) rankings with 116 ratings, after they dethroned Pakistan from the top spot by defeating Australia by five wickets on Friday in Mohali.

However, they are followed closely by Pakistan who are ranked second with 115 ratings.

The Blues recorded their convincing win thanks to a dominant display by their batters as four different players — Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul, and Suryakumar Yadav — scored half-centuries for the home side.

Before the much-anticipated ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 starts, India will play two more ODIs against Australia.

Pakistan can once again go to the top in the rankings if Australia beat India in the remaining two matches.

If the Aussies do their job, then the Green Shirts will, once again, become the number one ODI team and will enter the World Cup on a high note.

It must be noted that Pakistan recently became the number one team in ODIs after beating Afghanistan in a three-match ODI series in Sri Lanka in August.

However, with their poor performance in the Asia Cup 2023 saw them downgrading to the number three position.

But when South Africa won the five-match ODI series against Australia at their home, Pakistan once again became the top-ranked team in the ICC rankings.

The Men in Green will kick off their World Cup campaign on October 6 by taking on the Netherlands in Hyderabad.

Pakistan squad for ICC World Cup 2023

Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, M Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha.

Travelling reserves: Mohammad Haris, Abrar Ahmed, Zaman Khan

Schedule of Pakistan's warm-up matches:

September 29 — vs New Zealand in Hyderabad

October 3 — vs Australia in Hyderabad

Here is Pakistan's schedule for the ICC World Cup 2023:

October 6 — vs Netherlands in Hyderabad

October 10 — vs Sri Lanka in Hyderabad

October 14 — vs India in Ahmedabad

October 20 — vs Australia in Bengaluru

October 23 — vs Afghanistan in Chennai

October 27 — vs South Africa in Chennai

October 31 — vs Bangladesh in Kolkata

November 4 — vs New Zealand Bengaluru (Day match)

November 11 — vs England in Kolkata

The day matches will start at 10:00am Pakistan Standard Time (PST) while all other matches will be day-night fixtures starting at 01:30pm (PST).