Dharamsala: India and South Africa will have one eye on next year’s ICC World Twenty20 2016 when they go head to head in a three-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series in Dharamsala on Friday.

The ICC World Twenty20 2016 will be staged from 11 March to 3 April 2016, and Sri Lanka will defend the title it won in Dhaka last year when it defeated 2007 champion India in the final.

Besides preparing for the 16-team ICC World Twenty20 2016, the sides will also aim to improve their positions on the ICC T20I Team Rankings. Fourth-ranked India currently leads sixth-ranked South Africa by seven points, which means there will be changes in the table irrespective of how the series pans out.

MS Dhoni-led side will have an incentive to rise two places to second but, to make it happen, it will have to win all the three matches. In this scenario, India will join number-one ranked Sri Lanka on 126 points but will be placed below the Asian neighbours when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.

If the series result is reversed, then South Africa will join the West Indies on 117 points but will be ranked behind the Caribbean side at the fifth spot, while India will slip to eighth position.

A 2-1 series win for India will lift it ahead of Australia and just one point behind second-ranked Pakistan, while the same result for South Africa will help it rise to fifth with India dropping to sixth.