Afghanistan in ODI rankings for first time

Newcomers Afghanistan entered the main ODI rankings table of the International Cricket Council (ICC) following their 32-run win over Bangladesh Saturday in the Asia Cup at Fatullah, Bangladesh.

The win against Bangladesh was Afghanistan's first against a Full Member side and by doing so they met the criteria for inclusion in the main ICC ODI Team Rankings table for the first time.

The recent success come nearly six months after Afghanistan qualified for its maiden appearance at the 2015 World Cup.

Afghanistan join the table in 12th place with 32 ratings points, with the opportunity to slide past 11th-placed Ireland should it win either of its two remaining Asia Cup group matches.

To gain the promotion to the main rankings table, Afghanistan needed to either win two ODIs against Full Members, or achieve one win in an ODI against a Full Member and also needed to have won more than 60 percent of qualifying matches versus other Associates.

Afghanistan immediately achieved a ranking upon entry into the table, having played 12 ODIs since August 2010, with the minimum requirement being eight matches.

Afghanistan's 32 ratings points come from the results of these 12 ODIs.

It has been a remarkable journey for Afghanistan, who were playing in the ICC World Cricket League Division 5 in 2008. In 2010, they qualified for the 2010 World Twenty20 in the West Indies 2010 by winning the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2010.

They then finished second to Ireland in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2012 to qualify for the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012. Afghanistan finished runner-up a second time to Ireland at the qualifying event in 2013 to make it to the ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014.

Afghanistan has also played in the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup 2010 in New Zealand, the 2012 edition in Australia, and, most recently, finished seventh in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in 2014.