Bangladesh will be hoping to consolidate its seventh position in the ICC ODI Team Rankings when it faces Zimbabwe in a three-match ODI series, which starts in Dhaka tomorrow.

The hosts can only hope to make a marginal one-point gain in the event of a 3-0 series win over 10th-placed Zimbabwe. However, in the event of a reverse result in favour of the African side, Bangladesh would concede eight points to slip to eighth position on 88 points behind Pakistan when the rankings are calculated beyond the decimal point.

This series is important to both the sides as each ODI played over the next 23 months will count as England plus next seven highest-ranked sides on 30 September 2017 will progress to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. The bottom four sides on the ICC ODI Team Rankings, along with top sides from the ICC World Cricket League Championship and the ICC World Cricket League, will head to the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 to fight out for the two remaining slots.

Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan continues to blaze a trail in the ICC ODI Player Rankings and the in-form left-arm spinner is the highest-ranked bowler in fourth place heading into the series, 15 points adrift of New Zealand’s Trent Boult. Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza is in 22nd position after claiming his 200th wicket in the last ODI against South Africa in Chittagong in July, and he is seven points shy of a place inside the top 20. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s highest-ranked bowler is Tinashe Panyangara (72nd place).

Bangladesh also has the highest-ranked batsmen heading into the series, with Soumya Sarkar (17th) and Mushfiqur Rahim (19th) aiming to improve their standing inside the top 20, while their trio of team-mates Tamim Iqbal (26th), Shakib (28th) and Nasir Hossain (38th) will also be aiming to progress.

In the ICC Player Rankings for ODI All-rounders, the list is headed by 28-year-old Shakib who is 47 points clear of Sri Lanka’s Tillikaratne Dilshan.

The following are the series permutations:

Ahead of the start of the series - Ban (96), Zim (46)

· If Ban wins 3-0 – Ban 97, Zim 46

· If Ban wins 2-1 – Ban 94, Zim 48

· If Zim wins 3-0– Ban 88, Zim 52

· If Zim wins 2-1– Ban 91, Zim 50

· If the series is drawn 1-1 – Ban 93, Zim 48

Series schedule:

7 Nov – 1st ODI, Mirpur (d/n)

9 Nov – 2nd ODI, Mirpur (d/n)

11 Nov – 3rd ODI, Mirpur (d/n)

ICC ODI Team Rankings (as on 5 Nov, before the start of Ban-Zim ODI series & after 2nd ODI between SL-WI)

Rank Team Points:

1. Australia 127

2. India 114

3. South Africa 112

4. New Zealand 109

5. Sri Lanka 105

6. England 100

7. Bangladesh 96

8. Pakistan 88

9. West Indies 87

10. Zimbabwe 46

11. Ireland 46

12. Afghanistan 45