Bangladesh are back in the reckoning to qualify directly for the World Cup next year after registering a series win over Pakistan in the three-match rubber on Sunday. They defended 290 runs at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka to win the third and deciding ODI by 11 runs. With this win, Bangladesh can hope to avoid the qualifiers now, but will have to be consistent in the format to retain their ranking.
As per the latest ICC rankings, Bangladesh have jumped from 10th to 9th place after the series win, toppling the West Indies, who have been dropped to 10th position without playing at all. For the unversed, the World Cup next year is set to be played in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Among them, South Africa and Zimbabwe have already qualified by virtue of being the hosts, and the rest of the top 8 teams will also directly qualify.
Accordingly, the team placed ninth in the rankings and can also make it directly to the World Cup without playing the qualifiers. As per the schedule, Bangladesh are now scheduled to play their next ODI series against South Africa away from home in December. On the other hand, even the West Indies are not playing a single ODI anytime soon. For now, their next ODI seems to be against India in September-October, but the dates are not yet confirmed.
Bangladesh and the West Indies must be careful and should make sure that they play as many ODIs as possible to ensure their direct qualification for the World Cup.
Pakistan retain 4th place despite series loss
Meanwhile, Pakistan have retained their fourth place despite the series loss to Bangladesh. They have 102 rating points, three fewer than what they had before the start of the series. India are on top of the rankings, followed by New Zealand with 119 and 114 points respectively. South Africa are in fifth place in the rankings at the moment but they don't have to worry about the qualification, being the hosts and the same is the case for Zimbabwe who are ranked 11th.
Latest ICC ODI Team Rankings after BAN vs PAK series
| Rank | Team | Ratings |
| 1 | India | 119 |
| 2 | New Zealand | 114 |
| 3 | Australia | 109 |
| 4 | Pakistan | 102 |
| 5 | South Africa | 98 |
| 6 | Sri Lanka | 98 |
| 7 | Afghanistan | 95 |
| 8 | England | 88 |
| 9 | Bangladesh | 79 |
| 10 | West Indies | 77 |
| 11 | Zimbabwe | 54 |
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