India can put pressure on Australia and South Africa at the top of the LG ICC ODI Championship table with a good showing in the ICC Champions Trophy, which gets underway on Saturday.
Rahul Dravid's side dropped two places to fifth position in the table after failing to reach the final of the recent tri-series with Australia and the West Indies in Malaysia but the middle section is very tight and as hosts of the upcoming tournament they will have high hopes of moving back up the list.
India has the same number of points as Pakistan and New Zealand but now sits below both sides when the ratings are calculated to three decimal places.
Australia, which had a lead of just four rating points over second-placed South Africa at one stage during the tri-series, has some extra breathing space between itself and its nearest rival with that margin extended to seven points.
ICC Champions Trophy holders the West Indies now stands seventh in the table, three points clear of England and five points behind Sri Lanka.
After his outstanding tri-series tournament Australian batsman Michael Hussey sits on top of the Player Rankings for ODI batsmen followed closely by compatriot Adam Gilchrist, who did not participate in that series.
Hussey is still six innings short of qualifying for a full ranking so he could yet extend his lead at the top provided he maintains his form into the ICC Champions Trophy.
Only 12 batsmen have reached higher ratings than Hussey's mark of 805 points in the last ten years. And although nobody has reached 900 rating points since South Africa's Gary Kirsten in 1996, the Australian left-hander could do exactly that over the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be keen to overturn his poor series last month and move back up the rankings from his current position of eighth. In addition to Dhoni, India has two other batsmen in the top 20 -- Yuvraj Singh in 13th spot and Dravid is five places lower down at 18th.
For the bowlers, the man to catch is South Africa's Shaun Pollock who is still the world's top-ranked bowler and all-rounder in ODIs. Australian Brett Lee is second following an excellent tournament in Malaysia where he took 12 wickets in three games.
The ICC Champions Trophy begins on Saturday in Mohali when Sri Lanka faces Bangladesh. It is the first of 21 matches in 30 days taking place at four venues in India.
LG ICC ODI Championship as of 5 October, 2006:
Rank Team Rating
1 Australia 131
2 South Africa 124
3 Pakistan 111
4 New Zealand 111
5 India 111
6 Sri Lanka 107
7 West Indies 102
8 England 99
9 Zimbabwe 33
10 Bangladesh 33
11 Kenya 0
