Dubai, Sept 1: They have lost the tag of number one Test team but injury-ravaged world champions India can climb to second in the ICC ODI rankings if they manage to beat England 4-1 or better in the upcoming five-match series starting on Saturday.
England made a clean sweep of the four-Test series to claim number-one ranking for the first time in 32 years.
Although a sweep of the ODI series will not be enough to dislodge Australia from the number-one position, it will provide England a lift of two places which will put them ahead of South Africa and India in third position, the ICC said in a statement.
England currently sit in fifth position on 107 ratings points - 10 ratings points behind third-ranked India and nine points behind fourth-placed South Africa.
A 5-0 series win will earn Alastair Cook's side nine ratings points and will dock India eight ratings points.
This will mean England will join South Africa on 116 ratings points but will be ranked ahead of the Proteas when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point whereas India will slip to fifth position on 109 ratings points.
In a sharp contrast, India also have an opportunity to leapfrog Sri Lanka into second position.
But to make this happen, they will have to win the series by 4-1 or better.
A 4-1 series result will put India on 120 ratings points while dropping England to 104 ratings points, a 5-0 win will take India to 122 ratings points - eight behind Australia - while leaving England on 101 points - just one ahead of Pakistan which will take on Zimbabwe in a three-ODI series on 8 September.
If India win the series 3-2, they will stay on 117 ratings points but will slip behind South Africa in fourth position if England win the series 3-2.
In the event of England winning 3-2, India will drop to 114 ratings points while England will rise to 110 ratings.
In the ODI player rankings, there will be pressure on India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and India's iconic batsman Sachin Tendulkar who will be looking to score his 100th international century.
India boasts three batsmen inside the top 10 - Virat Kohli (sixth), Dhoni (ninth) and Tendulkar (10th).
Dhoni trails eighth-ranked Michael Hussey of Australia by 18 points while 10th-placed Tendulkar leads injured India teammate Gautam Gambhir, who is in 12th position, by eight points.
Dhoni and Tendulkar, along with Kohli, will be aiming to produce strong performances in the ODI series which will not only help India to improve their current ranking but will also allow them to move in the right direction.
South Africa's pair of Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers is sitting on top of the batting table while Australia's Shane Watson is in third place.
Watson also leads the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders while the highest-ranked England all-rounder is Tim Bresnan.
Praveen Kumar - in 45th position - is the highest-ranked Indian all-rounder in the absence of Yuvraj Singh (fifth), Yusuf Pathan (24th) and Virender Sehwag (35th). PTI
