All possible scenarios of how Pakistan can qualify for the 2017 Champions Trophy

Pakistan need to beat Sri Lanka 3-2 in the forthcoming five-match ODI series

Pakistan need to beat Sri Lanka 3-2 in the five-match ODI series if they want to qualify for the 2017 Champions Trophy scheduled to be held in England.

According to an ICC press release, Bangladesh needs to win one game against South Africa to retain pre-series points and cement their place in the upcoming tournament.

Bangladesh take on South Africa in a three-match series on Friday in Mirpur while Pakistan kick-off their campaign against the Islanders in Dambulla on Saturday.

On 93 points, Bangladesh currently sits pretty in seventh position on the ICC ODI Team Rankings and needs one win to retain its pre-series points. A failure to win any matches will result in it dropping to 90 points.

On the other side of the coin, if it maintains the form it showed against Pakistan and India, and wins the series against South Africa, then it will cement its qualification for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. A 2-1 series win will put it on 96 points, while it will vault to 99 points if it wins all the three matches.

As far as South Africa is concerned, a 3-0 victory will be needed to move it up from fourth in the table.

Ninth-ranked Pakistan is on 87 points and will move ahead of the West Indies (88 points) by a fraction of a point if it wins the series by 3-2 or better. Pakistan can rise to as high as 94 points if it wins all the matches, but will drop to as low as 84 points if it fails to register a win.

For Sri Lanka, a 5-0 win will put it on 108 points while a 5-0 will defeat will see it slip to 100 points.

With only seven teams, plus host England, eligible to qualify for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 to be staged in the United Kingdom from 1-19 June, there is extra context to the matches between Bangladesh and South Africa and Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The cut-off date determining the participating teams is 30 September 2015.

Bangladesh, West Indies and Pakistan are separated by just six points and with the West Indies not immediately involved in any series, if Bangladesh and Pakistan perform strongly in the forthcoming series, they can strengthen their claims for a place in the elite tournament.

The West Indies won the tournament in 2004 and together with Pakistan has featured in every event since 1998 when it was launched as ICC Knock-Out. Bangladesh’s last appearance in the ICC Champions Trophy was in India in 2006.

The following are the permutations of the forthcoming series according to ICC:

Sri Lanka (106 pts) v Pakistan (87 pts)

If Pak wins 3-2, then SL 103 pts, Pak 90 pts

If Pak wins 4-1, then SL 102 pts, Pak 92 pts

If Pak wins 5-0, then SL 100 pts, Pak 94 pts

If SL wins 5-0, then SL 108 pts, Pak 84 pts

If SL wins 4-1, then SL 107 pts, Pak 86 pts

If SL wins 3-2, then SL 105 pts, Pak 88 pts

Bangladesh (93 pts) v South Africa (112 pts)

If BD wins 3-0, then BD 99 pts, SA 107 pts

If BD wins 2-1, then BD 96 pts, SA 110 pts

If SA wins 2-1, then BD 93 pts, SA 111 pts

If SA wins 3-0, then BD 90 pts, SA 113 pts