The battle for eighth spot in the International Cricket Council’s one-day international rankings in order to qualify for the 2017 Champions Trophy has spiced up after Zimbabwe expressed its willingness to host a tri-nation series involving Pakistan and West Indies this August.
The recent 2-1 series win over India saw Bangladesh move up to seventh place in the table with 93 rating points which resulted in West Indies and Pakistan’s downfall as they slipped down to No 8 and 9 with 88 and 87 rating points respectively.
However, the developing news of the tri-nation series has added a twist to the equation and raised concerns over whether the outcome from the tournament will affect Bangladesh’s participation in the global event, in which only the top eight teams as of September 30 will qualify.
West Indies have no ODI matches scheduled before the cut-off date while Pakistan, who are currently in Sri Lanka for a bilateral series, will play five ODIs against the Lankans next month. Meanwhile, as a return favour of Zimbabwe’s tour to Pakistan recently, the 1992 World Cup champions are expected to travel to the southern African nation and that is where the Zimbabwe Cricket Board are trying to include the West Indies.
“We are currently in discussions with West Indies Cricket Board. We have invited West Indies to play the tri-series but nothing is finalised yet,” a Zimbabwean board official was quoted as saying on Cricket Australia’s website yesterday.
If the series takes place then Pakistan might squeeze themselves at No 8 while the West Indies can lift themselves to No 7, pushing Bangladesh back to No 9.
Bangladesh, however, can still spill water on the hastily planned tri-series as only one win in the three-match ODI series against South Africa will be enough for the Tigers to qualify for the Champions Trophy.