India, England in battle to climb ODI rankings

World champions India will resume their battle with World Twenty20 winners England to top the rankings in the ODI Championship table when the two sides lock horns in the One-day series starting in Hyderabad on Friday.

India are currently ranked fifth, just a rating point behind England, who are placed in the fourth position and Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men would look to stamp their authority in the ODI series.

World No 1 Australia are also ready to lock horns with third-placed South Africa from next Wednesday at Centurion and so there is a possibility of plenty of movement at the top of the list.

In the player rankings for ODI batsmen, India boasts batters inside the top 15, with captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni leading from the front.

He is in sixth position and will be keen to regain the coveted No 1 position he surrendered to AB de Villiers after the tri-nation series in Sri Lanka last August.

Dhoni trails fifth-ranked Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka by 13 points while he is 16 points behind Trott. The other Indian batsmen aiming to climb up the ladder include Virat Kohli (ninth), Gautam Gambhir (14th) and Suresh Raina (30th).

Among the England batsmen, Jonathan Trott, who won the ICC Cricketer of the Year award in London last month, is in fourth place and will be aiming to improve his ranking further.

The next highest-ranked England batsman is captain, Alastair Cook who is in 42nd position while Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell are in 52nd and 55th positions respectively.

In the Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, Praveen Kumar is the highest-ranked Indian bowler in 21st position in the absence of the four frontline bowlers -- Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel and Harbhajan Singh.

England's Graeme Swann will be hoping to strengthen his position at the top of the heap. The off-spinner leads second-ranked New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori by 27 ratings points.