England claim top spot in the latest ICC ODI Rankings

England’s ascent in the white-ball cricket has been established by their rise to the top of ICC ODI Rankings with India placed at second in the table.

Eoin Morgan and co. have been impressive in last six months, beating Australia in Australia in January. They also managed to beat New Zealand in a closely contested series in March.

However, a lot of credit must be given to Andrew Strauss who laid huge emphasis on white ball cricket after 2015 World Cup debacle that saw England get knocked out by Bangladesh in the group stages. England’s run before 2015 World Cup was far from impressive as they managed to win only seven games out of 25 played during this time.

Eoin Morgan has been excellent as leader of the side since 2015 as they managed to beat sides like New Zealand, South Africa, and Pakistan at home in limited-overs cricket. They have managed to post big totals on the board courtesy of power packed performers in the lineup from Alex Hales to Ben Stokes, all capable of destroying bowling attacks on a given day.

In the recent ICC ODI Rankings, England holds the top spot with 125 points while India is a close second with 122 points. South Africa have dropped to third place following their defeat to India in the six-match one-day series. New Zealand is fourth in the points table with 102 points.

World Champions Australia is placed at fifth in the table. Pakistan is sixth despite their good run of form in limited overs cricket. Sarfaraz Ahmed and co. managed to clinch Champions Trophy crown by beating arch-rivals India by a big margin.

In the ICC T20 Rankings, Pakistan retains their top spot while there are no big changes in the top seven places. Afghanistan has climbed to eighth place ahead of Sri Lanka in the points table