Indian prospects on the rise in LG ICC ODI Championship table

India's successes in the first two matches of its ODI series against the West Indies have given Rahul Dravid's side the prospect of climbing back up to fourth place in the LG ICC ODI Championship table.

India was as high as third in the table in April of last year, but debilitating losses in the Caribbean and South Africa and well as disappointing form at home in the ICC Champions Trophy in October plunged the side to sixth position.

It still occupies that spot now but victories over the West Indies in Nagpur and Cuttack mean it has closed the gap on the sides immediately above it - fourth-placed New Zealand, and Sri Lanka, in fifth position - to just a single rating point.

And if India continues its winning run in Chennai (27 January) and Vadodara (31 January) it will not only overtake Mahela Jayawardene's men but could do likewise with Stephen Fleming's line-up if New Zealand loses both its upcoming tri-series matches against Australia and England.

Two more wins for India would also leave it just two rating points adrift of neighbours Pakistan, although both sides are still a long way short of catching second-placed South Africa and table-topping world champions Australia.

Graeme Smith's side is 14 points clear of Pakistan prior to the two sides' five-match ODI series immediately before the ICC Cricket World Cup; meanwhile Australia, which has gained three rating points since the start of its annual tri-series thanks to its unbeaten record, is now eight points ahead of the Proteas.

At the other end of the table, the West Indies' two losses have seen its rating slide and it is now just two points clear of eighth-placed England, itself in a run of poor results.

In the LG ICC Rankings for ODI players, Michael Hussey continues to dominate the batting list. The man named as ODI player of the year at last November's ICC Awards continues to show why he is regarded so highly in this form of the game and he has extended his lead over England's Kevin Pietersen at the top of the list.

Hussey is one of five Australia batsmen inside the top ten places, which is one reason why the side remains so dominant in ODIs. Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds are also on the rise, and although Ricky Ponting has slipped to ninth position, there is compensation in the shape of Michael Clarke, up three spots to eighth place.

England's current plight is best illustrated by the fact it has only one player among the top 25 batsmen - Pietersen - and he is out of action with a fractured rib. Its next highest ranked player is Andrew Flintoff, climbing eight places to 26th position.

Flintoff is just about England's only bright spot in the LG ICC Player Rankings as he is also the side's highest ranked bowler, up four places to 21st place, while his recent improvement in form with bat and ball has also moved him up one place to third in the all-rounder listings behind Shaun Pollock of South Africa and the West Indies' Chris Gayle.

New Zealand has four players inside the top 20 places of the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers with Daniel Vettori its highest achiever, up one place to fourth position and now just short of his best-ever haul of rating points.

Despite excellent recent form however, Vettori is still some way behind the Australia duo of Nathan Bracken (currently placed third ahead of Friday's match against England) and Glenn McGrath, and the top-ranked Pollock.

The other Black Caps players among the top 20 bowlers are Shane Bond, Kyle Mills (reportedly close to a return after injury) and all-rounder Jacob Oram.

India's top-ranked batsman is Mahendra Singh Dhoni in sixth spot, and he has two team-mates for company in the top 20, with Dravid 15th and the fit-again Yuvraj Singh 18th.

Sachin Tendulkar lies 25th, Virender Sehwag is 31st and Saurav Ganguly re-enters the listing in 67th position after narrowly missing out on three figures in Nagpur.

Harbhajan Singh and the recalled Irfan Pathan are the side's two players inside the top 20 of the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, while Ajit Agarkar lies just outside that select group in 22nd position and Zaheer Khan has risen seven places to joint 38th place.

Zaheer is one of the biggest climbers in the bowling top 50, along with England's Jon Lewis (up seven to 47th) and Stuart Clark of Australia (rising nine to stand at 40th).

Outside the top 50 there are significant movers with bat and ball and two of them are New Zealanders.

All-rounder James Franklin has risen 22 spots to 51st in the bowling list while young batsman Ross Taylor is into the top 100 for the first time, climbing 32 places to 78th position.

Other players starting to make their mark on the LG ICC Player Rankings are pace bowler Mitchell Johnson of Australia (up 20 to 71st place), New Zealand spinner Jeetan Patel (in 77th position, a rise of 10 spots) and seamer Daren Powell of the West Indies, whose 4-27 in Cuttack has helped propel him up 20 places to 79th in the listings.

Powell's team-mate Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who appears to have been dealing with the India bowling attack almost single-handedly in the first two ODIs, is the biggest mover in the batting top 20, up eight places to 12th position.

Two West Indies players are still ahead of him in that list, the absent Ramnaresh Sarwan (11th) and Gayle (4th).

New Zealand's highest-ranked batsman is captain Stephen Fleming, in 30th spot, while Nathan Astle, who has announced his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect, finishes his career in 35th position.

Black Caps all-rounder Oram, whose 86 did so much to help his side to a 90-run win over England in Adelaide on Tuesday, has risen 11 places to joint 71st in the bating list.

For more information, including the upcoming fixtures and how they could affect the LG ODI Championship table, go to https://www.icc-cricket.com/icc/odi/predictor.html