India looks to get back to winning ways against Bangladesh and start climb back up LG ICC ODI Championship table

But tough series in prospect for Dravid's men with three Bangladesh bowlers among top 20 bowlers in LG ICC Player Rankings

India will be looking for a fresh start in ODI cricket when it takes on Bangladesh in a three-match ODI series that starts today (Thursday).

With just 10 wins from its previous 30 matches in this form of the game, a run stretching back 13 months, Rahul Dravid's men are well off the pace, in sixth place in the LG ICC ODI Championship table.

But it is easy to forget that in April 2006 India was third in that table, just three rating points behind South Africa, and seemed one of the form sides in the world after convincing series wins over Sri Lanka and England.

A lot has happened since then, including the disappointments of last year's ICC Champions Trophy on home soil as well as the recent ICC Cricket World Cup (ICC CWC) and so these matches represent a great chance for India to get back to winning ways in one-day action.

Dravid has been keen to avoid suggestions that this tour represents a revenge mission for his side but given the fact it was Bangladesh that qualified ahead of India for the Super Eight stage of that ICC CWC it can certainly be seen in that context.

And added to that is the fact that a clean sweep for the touring side will see it gain one rating point and so reduce the gap between it and fifth-placed Pakistan to just three points.

Not that Bangladesh will be thinking in those terms. Habibul Bashar's line-up beat not only India in the recent ICC CWC but also downed South Africa, at the time the top-ranked team in the LG ICC ODI Championship, so it starts this series fancying its chances of a series win.

If Bangladesh can win all three matches in the series then it will gain six rating points, lifting it to 51 points. That is still some way short of eighth-placed West Indies (99) but such a success would also drop India to 101 points, below England (104), the side currently in seventh position.

One look at the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers suggests any optimism Bangladesh may be feeling is not misplaced. The home side has three representatives in the top 20 places and spinner Abdul Razzaq is the highest-placed player from either side, lying ninth in the list.

Below him are veteran spinner Mohammad Rafique and seamer Mashrafe-bin-Mortaza, who share 17th spot, while India have just two bowlers inside that top 20, Harbhajan Singh (13th) and Ajit Agarkar, the seam and swing bowler, in joint 15th position (with England's Andrew Flintoff).

The batting table gives India greater grounds for confidence. Although the touring side has no players inside the top 10 places, it does have three among the top 20, with Mahendra Singh Dhoni its top-ranked batsman in eighth spot, captain Dravid in joint 15th (with Herschelle Gibbs of South Africa) and Yuvraj Singh in 20th.

Bangladesh's best-placed player is top-order player Shahriar Nafees, once inside the top 20 but now down to 37th position after a lean ICC CWC. Its only other batsmen inside the top 50 are Abdul Razzaq (41st), Aftab Ahmed (42nd) and Saqibul Hasan, joint 46th with Australia's Simon Katich and Saurav Ganguly, who has been left out of India's squad for this series.

Also absent from the squad is Sachin Tendulkar, currently 23rd in the batting list.

That list is headed by England's Kevin Pietersen, clear of the Australia duo of Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey and Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka.

Former South Africa captain Shaun Pollock is a long way clear in the bowling table, clear of Nathan Bracken of Australia and new Zealand's Shane Bond, who has slipped into third position following the retirement of Glenn McGrath, who now no longer features in the list.

Pollock also heads to LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders, clear of team-mate Jacques Kallis and Jayasuriya.

The schedule for the Bangladesh v India ODI series is as follows:

10 May - first ODI, Mirpir, Dhaka
12 May - second ODI, Mirpir, Dhaka
15 May - third ODI, Chittagong