DUBAI: The Pakistan men’s cricket team slipped two spots to the seventh in the annual update of the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20I rankings, released Friday.
Inaugural T20 World Cup champions India continued their stronghold at the summit with 264 rating points but their lead has been significantly reduced from 11 points to just seven with second-placed Australia (257).
South Africa (250) jumped two places from sixth to fourth to move just two points within the third-placed England (252).
The most notable change was recorded in the longest format of the game which saw the reigning ICC World Test Championship (WTC) winners Australia overtaking two-time finalists India to claim the top spot.
The Pat Cummins-led side rose to the top at the back of their resounding 209-run victory over India in the WTC final at The Oval last year.
The monumental victory helped Australia improve their rating to 124 points, four clear of India (120) and 19 clear of third-placed England (105).
Australia’s rise to the top is the only change in the annual Test rankings, while South Africa (103), New Zealand (96), Pakistan (89), Sri Lanka (83), West Indies (82) and Bangladesh (53) remained unchanged in spots between fourth and ninth.
Notably, the ICC annual rankings were updated, considering the teams’ performances after May 2021.
All results between May 2021 and May 2023 are then weighted at 50 percent and the ones in the following 12 months – that includes Australia’s World Test Championship final victory – then weighted at 100 percent.
There is no notable change in the annual ODI rankings however India extended their lead at the top to six rating points over Australia (116).
Third-placed South Africa (112) shrank the gap on Australia to just four rating points, while Pakistan (106) and New Zealand (101) round out the top five.
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