Successful series could lift India or England to third place in LG ICC ODI Championship table

Third place in the LG ICC ODI Championship table is the potential prize for both India and England when they start their seven-match ODI series in Delhi on Tuesday.

The sides are currently in fifth and sixth places respectively on that table, separated by five rating points, but resounding success for either line-up will see them surge up the rankings.

A 5-2 victory for India will see them rise from their current mark of 113 rating points to 115, which would be enough for them to leapfrog both fourth-placed New Zealand (113) and Pakistan, in third with 114 points.

That would leave Rahul Dravid's side just four rating points behind second-placed South Africa, currently on 119, and they can get even closer to the Proteas if they win the series 6-1 or 7-0.

A 6-1 success would leave them on 116 points while a clean sweep would give them 118 points, just one behind Graeme Smith's team.

England will start the series with 108 rating points but they, too, have the chance to make major strides up the table.

A 5-2 success will lift them to 113 points and take them past India as the home side would drop to 110, while a 6-1 series win for England will give them 116 rating points (India 108) and a 7-0 clean sweep would draw them level with South Africa.

World Champions Australia are the runaway leaders of the LG ICC ODI Championship table with 132 points.

England have already qualified for the second round of October's ICC Champions Trophy in India as Sri Lanka's recent defeats at the hands of Pakistan ensured Andrew Flintoff's side a place in the top six of the LG ICC ODI Championship table on 1 April.

And India were always guaranteed a place in that second round by virtue of being hosts.

But despite those factors, the first two matches of the series, in Delhi and Faridabad, still have added significance because they will determine where the two sides will be placed in the table on that cut-off date.

That is important because the eight sides that will take part in the second round will be placed in two groups worked out on the basis of their rankings (teams 1 - 6 in the LG ICC ODI Championship table on 1 April) or their order of qualification from the preliminary round (teams 7 & 8).

And while there may be five rating points between India and England ahead of the series, two wins for England in those first two matches will see the sides swap places with England rising to fifth spot and 112 points while India will slip to 110 points.

In the LG ICC Player Rankings, India appear to have a slight edge when it comes to batting as they have four players in the top 20 places while England can boast only three.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the home side's highest-ranked player, in fifth spot, followed by Yuvraj Singh (8th), captain Rahul Dravid (10th) and the injured Sachin Tendulkar (joint 16th with South Africa's Boeta Dippenaar).

England's players at the top end of the list are acting captain Andrew Flintoff (14th) and Kevin Pietersen (15th) while the unavailable Marcus Trescothick is in 18th position.

Both teams have a player just outside the top 20, with Virender Sehwag in 21st spot while Andrew Strauss, who made 128 in the recent third Test in Mumbai, is 25th.

India's Irfan Pathan is the leading player from either side in the LG ICC Player Rankings for bowlers in ODIs. He is in 5th place and is joined in the top 20 by team-mate Harbhajan Singh (13th).

England have three bowlers in that top 20, although only one of them - Flintoff, in 15th - is in their squad for this series. Also there are Stephen Harmison (11th, but unavailable because of injury) and Darren Gough (19th, but omitted by the selectors).

Further down the list is James Anderson, fresh from six wickets in the Mumbai Test, and he finds himself in 24th spot.

Flintoff is just 10 rating points away from the top of the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders, currently occupied by South Africa's Shaun Pollock. Pathan is in 4th position while England's Paul Collingwood lies in 11th place.

The batting list is headed by Australia captain Ricky Ponting, followed by team-mates Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds while Pollock tops the bowlers table, followed by Glenn McGrath of Australia and New Zealand's Shane Bond.

The top 10 places in the LG ICC ODI Championship table have now been confirmed with Bangladesh's 4-0 success against Kenya securing their place in the ICC Champions Trophy ahead of the African side. Only 10 sides can take part in the tournament.

The schedule for the India - England ODI series is as follows:

28 March - first ODI, Delhi
31 March - second ODI, Faridabad
3 April - third ODI, Goa
6 April - fourth ODI, Cochin
9 April - fifth ODI, Guwahati
12 April - sixth ODI, Jamshedpur
15 April - seventh ODI, Indore

Full details of the current LG ICC ODI Championship and how future results will impact on the table, as well as the LG ICC Player Rankings can be found here