Will India rise to No. 1 in ODI rankings if they win Asia Cup final?

On Sunday, India will take on Sri Lanka in the final of the Asia Cup in Colombo. The two sides are the most successful in the history of the tournament, with seven and six titles respectively. This is the eighth time that they will contest the final.

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The Asia Cup was particularly disappointing for Pakistan, who entered the tournament as the top-ranked ODI side. They were dethroned by Australia midway through the tournament, who beat South Africa a day before Pakistan went on to lose to arch-rivals India.

That result also meant that India moved to the No 2 spot in the rankings, overtaking Pakistan.

Will India rise to No 1 in ODI rankings if they win Asia Cup final?

Last week, India had a chance to move to No 1 for a brief period at least, which would have made them the top-ranked side in Tests, T20Is and ODIs simultaneously. For this, they required South Africa to beat Australia while they needed to beat Bangladesh.

The first half of that equation was satisfied as South Africa registered a crushing victory over Australia, but India slipped to a narrow loss against Bangladesh, which not only denied them top spot, but sent them from No 2 to No 3.

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However, India cannot reclaim top spot even if they beat Sri Lanka today and Australia lose to South Africa in the fifth ODI of their bilateral series. If this set of results takes place, it will result in Pakistan moving back to No 1, with India moving up to No 2 and Australia slipping to No 3.

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