ICC T20 ranking: England on top, Pakistan placed 7th

KARACHI: Reigning ICC World Twenty20 champion England was unveiled as the number-one ranked side in the shortest format of the game as the ICC Twenty20 International (T20I) team.

The new International Cricket Council (ICC) T20I rankings was launched at the ICC headquarters in Dubai Sports City on Monday, said a statement issued.

England, which is also the top ranked Test side, has a rating of 127 points and leads second-placed Sri Lanka by just one rating point.

Only six ratings points separate the next four sides with New Zealand occupying third position on 117, followed by South Africa, ICC World Twenty20 2007 winner India, and Australia.

ICC World Twenty20 2009 champion Pakistan is in seventh position, 14 ratings points behind Australia, with West Indies, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe to follow.

Teams that have played eight or more T20Is since August 2009 have been included on the table.

Bangladesh, along with Associate Members Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands and Scotland, which have T20I status, will all join the table as soon as they have played sufficient matches to qualify for a ranking.

Since August 2009, England has played 20 T20Is, winning 12, losing six and with two ending in no-results.

Its victories include four against Pakistan, two each against South Africa and Australia, and one each against Sri Lanka, West Indies, New Zealand and India.

In contrast, Pakistan has played the highest number of matches (24) during the same period, but at the same time it has lost more than 50 percent of its matches which explains its current seventh position.

One of the main objectives of introducing the T20I team rankings is to give context to bilateral matches. And this will be evident as soon as Saturday when England will put its number-one ranking on the line when it goes head to head with India in the only T20I match of the series at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

While an England victory would increase its advantage over Sri Lanka to four ratings points, in case of a defeat it will slip to third position behind Sri Lanka and India.

An India victory would give fresh impetus to the one-off Pakistan-Sri Lanka T20I in Dubai on November 25 as Sri Lanka would need to win that match to hold on to number one spot. Defeat to Pakistan would see Sri Lanka fall to joint third position alongside South Africa and India would take over as the top ranked side.