India misses out on edging Proteas in ODI rankings

Cape Town - India have missed out on an opportunity to edge the Proteas after their recently concluded ODI series against Sri Lanka.

Rohit Sharma, who took over the reigns as skipper after Virat Kohli's nuptials, helped his side clinch the three-match ODI series 2-1.

However, India needed to complete a 3-0 clean sweep against Sri Lanka to knock South Africa off at the top of the ICC ODI team rankings.

Instead India have lost a point and now are two points behind the Proteas in the standings.

Meanwhile, fifth-ranked New Zealand take on ninth-ranked Windies in a three-match ODI series, which gets underway on Wednesday, December 20.

India and South Africa take each other on in February next year in a six-match ODI series. This follows the three-match Test series starting on January 5.

ODI Team rankings:

South Africa 121

India 119

Australia 114

England 114

New Zealand 111

Pakistan 99

Bangladesh 92

Sri Lanka 84

West Indies 77

Afghanistan  54

Zimbabwe  52

Ireland 41

India's ODI series against SA:

February 1 - D/N 1st ODI, Kingsmead

February 4 - 2nd ODI, Centurion

February 7 - D/N 3rd ODI, Newlands

February 10 - D/N 4th ODI, Wanderers

February 13 - D/N 5th ODI, St. George's Park

February 16 - D/N 6th ODI, Centurion