England captain Alastair Cook has urged his players to maintain their status as the number one team in one-day internationals against India.

Cook's side, who ended 2012 at the top of the ICC one-day rankings, will take on India in a five-match ODI series in January.

"I was pleasantly surprised how quickly we got to number one," The Express quotes Cook as saying.

"We won 80% of the games last year so that shows we're worth it. But I didn't feel we were the number one side as we have so much development to do.

"If we won here, it would convince me. It would prove we are number one and that we can handle a lot of conditions."

India will host England in the first ODI in Rajkot on Friday.