- Pakistan consolidate position at the top with teams from all five regions also ranked in the most accessible form of the game
The International Cricket Council today unveiled an expanded MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings table with 80 teams who will now be able to gauge their progress in a format recognised by the world body as the vehicle for the growth of the game.
Teams like Austria, Botswana, Luxembourg and Mozambique are among the sides figuring in the first men’s T20I ranking table that features all Members meeting the criteria of having played six matches against other ICC members since May 2016.
The move to expand the table follows ICC’s decision last year that all men’s T20 matches between Members from 1 January 2019 will be classified as internationals. As with the ICC Women’s T20I Team Rankings, which were launched in October 2018, teams will need to play six matches against other teams in the previous three to four years to remain in the rankings table
The qualification process for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup which is underway includes 58 T20I matches across five regional finals is likely to mean significant movements on the rankings over the coming months. The first final was held in Papua New Guinea last month whilst the Africa final in Uganda (19-24 May), the Europe final in the Guernsey (15-19 June), the Asia final in Singapore (22-28 July) and the Americas final in the USA (19-25 August) are still to come.
Six of these teams will join hosts UAE, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Scotland and Zimbabwe in the global qualifier in what will be another chance to improve their standings on the table as they try to qualify for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia.
Meanwhile, Pakistan have consolidated their position at the top of the table, which has a wider spread of points to accommodate the additional teams. Pakistan, ICC T20 World Cup champions in 2009, are now on 286 points while the next four teams are within two points of each other – South Africa (262), England (261), Australia (261) and India (260).
South Africa and India have swapped positions two and five in the expanded table, whose launch coincides with the annual rankings update in which series results from 2015-16 are removed and outcomes from 2016-17 and 2017-18 are weighted at 50 per cent.
In other significant changes, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka have moved up one place each to seventh and eighth positions, respectively, with the West Indies going down to ninth position. In what will be big news for their passionate fans, Nepal have moved from 14th to 11th position while Namibia have grabbed 20th position.
MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings (as on 3 May)
Rank Team Points
1 Pakistan 286
2 South Africa 262
3 England 261
4 Australia 261
5 India 260
6 New Zealand 254
7 Afghanistan 241
8 Sri Lanka 227
9 West Indies 226
10 Bangladesh 220
11 Nepal 212
12 Scotland 199
13 Zimbabwe 192
14 Netherlands 187
15 Ireland 182
16 UAE 181
17 PNG 172
18 Oman 155
19 Hong Kong 152
20 Namibia 141
21 Qatar 129
22 Saudi Arabia 121
23 Singapore 118
24 Denmark 116
25 Canada 111
26 Jersey 106
27 Kuwait 104
28 Ghana 100
29 Kenya 95
30 Botswana 93
31 USA 84
32 Austria 73
33 Malaysia 73
34 Guernsey 68
35 Uganda 68
36 Germany 64
37 Sweden 58
38 Tanzania 56
39 Nigeria 55
40 Luxembourg 55
41 Spain 53
42 Philippines 48
43 France 45
44 Belize 42
45 Belgium 40
46 Peru 40
47 Bahrain 37
48 Mexico 36
49 Fiji 35
50 Samoa 34
51 Vanuatu 33
52 Panama 32
53 Japan 32
54 Costa Rica 32
55 Thailand 31
56 Argentina 31
57 Hungary 30
58 Mozambique 29
59 Chile 25
60 Malawi 25
61 Israel 25
62 Bhutan 23
63 Finland 22
64 South Korea 22
65 Isle of Man 21
66 Malta 14
67 Bulgaria 14
68 Sierra Leone 12
69 Brazil 12
70 Czech Republic 9
71 St Helena 9
72 Maldives 8
73 Gibraltar 4
74 Myanmar 3
75 Indonesia 0
76 China 0
77 Gambia 0
78 Swaziland 0
79 Rwanda 0
80 Lesotho 0
*Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Cameroon and Bermuda have also played matches but not enough to be on the T20I points table
