'Australia's No.1 ranking in ODIs will be meaningless in Champions Trophy' India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Australia's No.1 ranking in ODIs will be meaningless in the Champions Trophy, according to all-rounder James Hopes. Australia edged ahead of the Proteas in the one-day rankings, and with a record seventh successive victory over England tonight and retain the top spot heading into the Champions Trophy in South Africa starting on Tuesday. But Hopes said being No. 1 would not make Australia - reigning champion - the favourite for the tournament, The Age reported. "I wouldn't have thought so, we would want another crack at South Africa. If that happens in a semi-final or a final, we can't wait for that opportunity because we've had a couple of bad series from that perspective against them over the past 12 months. We're looking to right that ship," Hopes said. "'They pretty much know what their team is and we're getting to that stage now, and there's a few memories from the couple of one-day series we've played against them so we're looking forward to having another crack. "The ranking is not very important. If you're No. 1, you go over there and lose two games, you're not No. 1 any more. For us it's more important to win this 7-0 and then go over to South Africa and make sure we at least get to the semi-finals. We don't want to go out in the group stage. We don't want to have another Twenty20 world cup on our hands," he added.