London – England must beat India home and away in one-day internationals if they are to emulate their rise to the top of the global Test rankings, spinner Graeme Swann said Thursday.
After securing the No.1 spot in Test cricket, England have targeted a sharp improvement in the one-day arena – where they are currently ranked fifth – as their next major objective.
England are currently leading India 1-0 ahead of Friday's third match at the Oval in the ongoing best-of-five series, although the injury-hit tourists are missing several of the stars who featured in April's World Cup win.
Swann said that while England remain focused on clinching the current series, his team-mates were eyeing the return series staged in India next month.
“Our official ranking is five and I don't think we can argue with that,” Swann told Sky Sports News.
“We have shown some improvement recently but we have to continue that if we want to be one of the best teams.
“We have to beat teams like India, not just in this series, but when we go away to play them as well.”
Swann meanwhile said one-day captain Alastair Cook was on the way to erasing doubts about his suitability for the abbreviated version of the game after a match-winning unbeaten 80 in Tuesday's win at the Rose Bowl.
“He's just letting his bat do the talking,” Swann added.
“It is very good for Cooky. He works very hard on his game, no-one works harder on his game although Kevin Pietersen might tell you differently.
“It is brilliant that it is paying off for him.
“He was written off - he's even hitting sixes these days. So you never know, hell might freeze over.”
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