Here’s Why Australian Cricket Team Has Slipped to 34-Year Low in the ICC ODI Rankings

Things are not going in favour of the Australian cricket team at the moment. The World Champions, earleir lost captain Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner, who are currently serving a one-year suspension in the ball tampering scandal. Besides it, the new look team is finding it tough to secure a win under the newly appointed leader Tim Paine. Australia are currently on a five-match One-Day International (ODI) England tour and are trailing in the series 0-2.

The Paine-led side have lost first two ODIs and as a result, have now dropped down to the sixth position in the latest ICC ODI Rankings. Australia lost the first ODI by three wickets and then the second game by 28 runs. The back to back defeats meant that the World Champions have now slipped to a 34-year low in the rankings. Australia, reportedly, last time were placed sixth on the rankings in 1984 when most of the current team members were not even before. Despite winning the last edition of the cricket World Cup in 2015, the Kangaroos have failed to keep the momentum going. And as a result, find themselves on the unwanted half of the rankings. ICC ODI Rankings: Australia Slips to 34-Year Low.

After defeating New Zealand in the final of 2015 World Cup, Australia till now have played 57 matches. Out of these games, the Champions have lost 27 and won as many matches. For a side which holds the World title, the numbers are below average. In fact, from 2016 onwards, Australia’s winning graph has gone down drastically. In 2016, Australia managed to win 17 out of 29 contests, which reads better against five wins out of 15 matches in 2017. During 2017, the Australian team also failed to go past the Group Stage of the ICC Champions Trophy. So far in 2018, Australia have won just one match out of seven. The win came against England at Adelaide, when Poms were on the Australian tour in January this year.

Australia’s win-loss record in ODIs after 2015 Cricket World Cup

*Excluding 2015 Cricket World Cup & matches before the tournament

Meanwhile, Australia will not only be battling for survival in the five-match series when they meet England again on Tuesday at Trent bridge. A win in third ODI (or even in last two ODIs) will help Australia re-enter the top five in the ODI rankings. Interestingly, in 2016 Australia were ranked number one. However, post the five-match ODI series against South Africa in September-October that year, Australia’s rating took a heavy dent as they lost the series 5-0. It's an uphill task for the Australian team as they begin their title defence in less than a year.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 18, 2018 05:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).