ICC Rankings: Afghanistan break into top 10 ODI teams, India retain hold on second spot

The International Cricket Council released the latest ODI rankings on Saturday after the conclusion of the match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka, and the most significant impact in the teams’ table has been made by Afghanistan.

As a result of their memorable 49-run win over Zimbabwe on Friday, Afghanistan rose to No. 10, the highest spot they have reached since they started playing the sport not too many years ago.

As on 24th December, before the start of the first ODI, Afghanistan were at 12 in the rankings whereas Zimbabwe were at the 10th spot. Amir Hamza and Mohammad Nabi and Noor Ali Zadran were the top performers for the rising Asian nation on Christmas day as they clinched victory in a low scoring thriller.

New Zealand stand a chance of leapfrogging South Africa into 3rd place in the rankings, but only if they manage to win their series against Sri Lanka by a margin of at least 4-1.

ICC ODI Rankings table (As on 26 December 2015):

Rank	Team	Matches	Points	Rating
1	Australia	44	5569	127
2	India	56	6380	114
3	South Africa	57	6362	112
4	New Zealand	49	5405	110
5	Sri Lanka	64	6675	104
6	England	56	5639	101
7	Bangladesh	37	3587	97
8	Pakistan	57	4983	87
9	West Indies	38	3256	86
10	Afghanistan	21	1005	48
11	Ireland	15	683	46
12	Zimbabwe	51	2275	45

Afghanistan Ranked 10th in ODI after beating Zimbabwe in the First match today. @vsouthasia report. https://t.co/esPDNPu69Y @pajhwok @ICC

— Afghan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) December 25, 2015