India slipped to sixth in the LG ICC ODI Championship table, the lowest the team has been for more than a year, following the 4-0 series loss to South Africa.
And it could get even worse for Rahul Dravid's team if the West Indies puts in a good performance in the five-match ODI series against Pakistan, which is due to get underway in Rawalpindi on Tuesday.
The last time India was lower in the ICC ODI Championship table was in October 2005 when it languished in seventh position; if the West Indies wins the series against Pakistan, even by one match, India will be back down to that lowly position.
It has been a sharp fall for the team, which was one of the in-form sides in ODIs in the first half of 2006. At the end of April, India lay third in the table, just three rating points behind the Proteas.
But since then it has won just three of its last 17 outings (with 12 losses and two no results), results that have seen it slip to sixth spot, 25 rating points adrift of leaders Australia and 20 points behind South Africa.
Conversely, South Africa's position has not been this healthy since way back in January 2003 when it stood, as it does today, on 126 ratings points in second position overall. The Proteas have never enjoyed a higher rating since the LG ICC ODI Championship was launched in October 2002.
Graeme Smith's team is now hot on the trail of Australia and if Ricky Ponting's side stutter in their tri-series with England and New Zealand in the New Year and South Africa does well in its five-match series with Pakistan in February, it could go into next year's ICC Cricket World Cup as the top ranked ODI team.
That said, Pakistan will be anxious to make its own way up the ladder. If it can beat the West Indies by three clear matches over the next couple of weeks, it will move ahead of New Zealand and into third place in the table.
South Africa's bowlers enjoyed the series against India with Shaun Pollock strengthening his position at the top of the Player Rankings, Makhaya Ntini moving up four places to fifth, Andre Nel gaining five places to 14th spot and Jacques Kallis gaining 17 places to 45th position.
Pollock's ten wickets in four matches at an average of 8.30 and an economy rate of 2.30 won him the player of the series award and reminded the world he still has plenty to offer at this level.
The 33-year-old is now a remarkable 111 ratings points ahead of his nearest competitor, Glenn McGrath, having moved up to 910.
In the era of 50-over cricket, Pollock's is the second highest rating behind Muthiah Muralitharan.
Pollock is now just one point behind Chris Gayle, the top all-rounder in the LG rankings, while Kallis has moved up six places in this category to sixth.
The batting category of the rankings for ODI batsmen has seen less movement with Mike Hussey retaining his place at the top. The only piece of good news for India is wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni's move up one place to fifth, at the expense of Australia's Andrew Symonds.
Graeme Smith has dropped out of the top ten after a disappointing series for the SA captain.
One man to look out for in the future is Bangladesh's Shahriar Nafees who is making great strides up the LG ICC Player Rankings.
The opening batsman has been in fine form and his unbeaten 105 against Zimbabwe at Khulna last week has helped catapult him up 18 places up in the ODI rankings to 22nd position, a record for a Bangladesh player. Although still only 20, the left-hander has already scored three ODI centuries and is averaging 41.66.
Another impressive mover in the batting rankings is Netherlands player Ryan ten Doeschate, who has shot up 63 places to 91st in the world after a successful ODI tri-series in South Africa against Canada and Bermuda. The Dutch won the series with ten Doeschate finishing as the tournament's leading run-scorer, averaging 41 with the bat.
Bermuda all-rounder Saleem Mukuddem as well as Canada's Desmond Chumney and Abdool Samad also made a big impression during that tri-series.
LG ICC ODI Championship (as of 4 December 2006, after the South Africa - India ODI series)
1 Australia 131
2 South Africa 126
3 New Zealand 113
4 Pakistan 110
5 Sri Lanka 108
6 India 106
7 West Indies 106
8 England 99
9 Bangladesh 37
10 Zimbabwe 27
Listings of the all-time rankings can be found at www.lgiccrankings.com.
