Not long ago, everyone would agree that Bangladesh was at its best in ODIs. Bangladesh’s proudest cricket achievements have come in the 50-over format. However, that dominance seems to be shifting as the team is now facing struggles in this format as well. The latest example is the series loss to Afghanistan, after which Bangladesh has dropped behind Afghanistan in the ICC ODI rankings.
Following the Bangladesh-Afghanistan series, the ICC updated its rankings, reflecting a position swap between the two teams. Afghanistan climbed from 9th to 8th, while Bangladesh slipped from 8th to 9th. Interestingly, in 2022, Afghanistan had visited Bangladesh for an ODI series while being three ranks lower.
At the start of the recent series, Bangladesh held 86 rating points, compared to Afghanistan’s 84. With Afghanistan’s 2-1 victory in the three-match series, their points increased to 85. Bangladesh also now has 85 points but is slightly behind Afghanistan due to a small fractional difference, which has pushed Nazmul and his team down to 9th.
As recently as May this year, Afghanistan was trailing Bangladesh by 6 points. However, after a string of series wins against Ireland, South Africa, and now Bangladesh, Afghanistan has surged past them in the rankings.
