The International Cricket Council today unveiled an expanded MRF Tyres ICC Men 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.Pakistan consolidate position at the top with teams from all five regions also ranked in the most accessible form of the gameTeams like Austria, Botswana, Luxembourg and Mozambique are among the sides figuring in the first men 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 decision last year that all men T20 matches between Members from 1 January 2019 will be classified as internationals.
As with the ICC Women 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 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 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.India are now placed fifth in the Men's T20I rankings table India are now placed fifth in the Men's T20I rankings tableSix 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 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 T20I Team Rankings (as on 3 May)Rank Team Points1 Pakistan 2862 South Africa 2623 England 2614 Australia 2615 India 2606 New Zealand 2547 Afghanistan 2418 Sri Lanka 2279 Windies 22610 Bangladesh 22011 Nepal 21212 Scotland 19913 Zimbabwe 19214 Netherlands 18715 Ireland 18216 UAE 18117 PNG 17218 Oman 15519 Hong Kong 15220 Namibia 14121 Qatar 12922 Saudi Arabia 12123 Singapore 11824 Denmark 11625 Canada 11126 Jersey 10627 Kuwait 10428 Ghana 10029 Kenya 9530 Botswana 9331 USA 8432 Austria 7333 Malaysia 7334 Guernsey 6835 Uganda 6836 Germany 6437 Sweden 5838 Tanzania 5639 Nigeria 5540 Luxembourg 5541 Spain 5342 Philippines 4843 France 4544 Belize 4245 Belgium 4046 Peru 4047 Bahrain 3748 Mexico 3649 Fiji 3550 Samoa 3451 Vanuatu 3352 Panama 3253 Japan 3254 Costa Rica 3255 Thailand 3156 Argentina 3157 Hungary 3058 Mozambique 2959 Chile 2560 Malawi 2561 Israel 2562 Bhutan 2363 Finland 2264 South Korea 2265 Isle of Man 2166 Malta 1467 Bulgaria 1468 Sierra Leone 1269 Brazil 1270 Czech Republic 971 St Helena 972 Maldives 873 Gibraltar 474 Myanmar 375 Indonesia 076 China 077 Gambia 078 Swaziland 079 Rwanda 080 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