ICC T20 Rankings: India drop to fourth position; Pakistan inch ahead.

With the IPL going on, T20 cricket is everywhere in the news and adding to this extravaganza there’s another ‘Breaking News’ surrounding the shortest format of the game. In the annual update of rankings released by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on May 1 2017, the Virat Kohli led Indian team has slipped to the fourth position after losing six points.

India dropped two places giving arch rival Pakistan and England a chance to climb higher on the rankings ladder.

The Gainers:

1. England gained seven points, moving three places higher to the second position with 121 points.
2. Pakistan have had a decent run in the T20’s in their recent fixtures as a result of which they gained five points reaching a tally of 121 points, however Pakistan are behind England by a fraction of a point and hence placed third in the ICC rankings.
3. Australia too moved up a position switching places with the defending Twenty20 champions, the West Indies.
4. Bangladesh gained four points to be ranked tenth with a tally of seventy eight points.
5. Among the non-test playing nations it has been Afghanistan who have been very impressive with the brand of cricket they’ve displayed. The minnows are now placed on the ninth spot after gaining six points and climbing to a tally of 90 points.

The losers:

1. India dropped two places after losing six points and are currently placed at the fourth position. A long test season meant India played a very limited number of T20 games; their last fixture was that against England.
2. South Africa conceded six points slipping two places they are now ranked fifth. However South Africa are a point ahead of the Aussies.
3. At the seventh position is the team from West Indies who are fourteen points ahead of eighth placed Sri Lanka (a drop of four points)
4. The Netherlands have lost nine points, slipping drastically to the fourteenth position.

Status quo: while Zimbabwe has retained its 12th rank after gaining three points.

Since ICC World Twenty20 2020 is set to be staged in Australia, the hosts along with the next nine high ranked teams will qualify automatically for the event. The eight sides at the bottom of the team rankings will be awarded a second chance to qualify for the seventh edition of the ICC World Twenty20, as they will join regional qualifiers in the 2019 World T20 Qualifier. Six sides from the qualifier will enter the 16-team World T20 event.

ICC T20I rankings update: