Lahore: Pakistan will defend its number-two position on the ICC T20I Team Rankings when it goes head to head with England in a three-match series in Dubai on Thursday, 26 November.
In a battle between the 2009 and 2010 ICC World Twenty20 champions, Pakistan leads eighth-ranked England by 14 points. This means it must win the series to retain second position behind Sri Lanka, which will defend its ICC World Twenty20 title in India from 11 March to 3 April 2016.
If Pakistan wins the series 2-1, then both the sides will maintain their pre-series rankings and points. However, if the series result is reversed, then Pakistan will join the West Indies and Australia in a three-way battle for second position on 118 points. However, when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point, then Pakistan will be ranked fourth. In contrast, England will leapfrog India and New Zealand into sixth position on 112 points.
If England wins the series 3-0, then it will vault to fourth position on 117 points, while Pakistan will drop to sixth position on 114 points.
In the scenario of Pakistan winning all the three matches, Shahid Afridi’s side will join Sri Lanka on 125 points but will be ranked second by a fraction of a point. England, on the other side of the coin, will stay eighth but will slip to 102 points.
In the ICC Player Rankings for T20I Batsmen, England’s Alex Hales will start off as the highest-ranked batsman from either side in third position. The 26-year-old Nottinghamshire batsman trails India’s Virat Kohli in second place by four,and number-one ranked Aaron Finch by 13 points, and will be aiming for upward movement.
Captain Eoin Morgan (eighth) and Jos Buttler (47th) are the other England batsmen to feature inside the top 50.
Pakistan has no batsman inside the top 10 but in Ahmed Shehzad (14th), Umar Akmal (16th), Mohammad Hafeez (24th) and Shahid Afridi (35th), it boasts four batsmen inside the top 50.
In the ICC Player Rankings for T20I Bowlers, England has no bowler inside the top 75, while Pakistan has four bowlers inside the top 75. These include Shahid Afridi (ninth), Sohail Tanvir (16th), Shoaib Malik (68th) and Mohammad Irfan (75th).
Sunil Narine leads the bowlers’ table, which also includes his West Indies team-mate Samuel Badree in second spot and Sachithra Senanayake of Sri Lanka in third place.
Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh is on top of the all-rounders’ category, but Pakistan’s duo of Hafeez and Shahid are within striking distance. Second-ranked Hafeez trails Shakib by 47 points, while Shahid is another four points behind.
The next T20I player rankings will be released on 1 December.
Forthcoming matches
Hong Kong v Oman
25 Nov – 2nd T20I, Abu Dhabi
26 Nov – 3rd T20I, Abu Dhabi
Pakistan v England
26 Nov – 1st T20I, Dubai
27 Nov – 2nd T20I, Dubai
30 Nov – 3rd T20I, Sharjah
Afghanistan v Oman
29 Nov – 1st T20I, Abu Dhabi
30 Nov – 2nd T20I, Abu Dhabi
ICC T20I Team Rankings (as on 24 November, before Pakistan-England series)
Rank Team Points
1 Sri Lanka 125
2 Pakistan 121
3 West Indies 118
4 Australia 118
5 South Africa 115
6 India 110
7 New Zealand 108
8 England 107
9 Afghanistan 81
10 Bangladesh 69
11 Scotland 66
12 Netherlands 61
13 Hong Kong 61
14 Zimbabwe 53
15 Ireland 42
(Developed by David Kendix)
ICC T20) Player Rankings (as on 24 November, before Pakistan-England series)
Batsmen (top 10)
Rank Player Team Pts Ave S/Rate HS Rating
1 Aaron Finch Aus 854 39.78 152 892 v Ban at Mirpur 2014
2 Virat Kohli Ind 845 44.17 133 897 v Eng at Edgbaston 2014
3 Alex Hales Eng 841 36.40 137 866 v Ind at Edgbaston 2014
4 Faf du Plessis SA 758 39.28 135 843 v Ban at Mirpur 2015
5 B. McCullum NZ 712 35.66 136 842 v Ban at Pallekele 2012
6 Kusal Perera SL 706* 27.09 133 751 v SA at Chittagong 2014
7 Chris Gayle WI 703 35.15 143 830 v Aus at Colombo (RPS) 2012
8 Eoin Morgan Eng 675 29.87 134 872 v Ind at Old Trafford 2011
9 T. Dilshan SL 662 28.90 121 800 v NZ at Colombo (RPS) 2009
10 Martin Guptill NZ 653 32.13 123 792 v SA at Hamilton 2012
Other selected rankings (top 75)
Rank Player Team Pts Avge S/Rate HS Rating
14 Ahmed Shehzad Pak 625 26.54 115 709 v Ban at Mirpur 2014
16 Umar Akmal Pak 613 27.35 123 707 v Zim at Harare 2011
24 M. Hafeez Pak 543 23.31 115 648 v SL at Dubai 2013
35 Shahid Afridi Pak 488 18.51 147 536 v SA at Abu Dhabi 2010
47 Jos Buttler Eng 439* 21.08 133 446 v SL at The Oval 2014
59 Joe Root Eng 380* 41.83 131 388 v NZ at Old Trafford 2015
65 Shoaib Malik Pak 357 22.91 107 574 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2009
83 Moeen Ali Eng 273*! 18.42 128 273 v Aus at Cardiff 2015
Bowlers (top 10)
Rank Player Team Pts Avge Eco. HS Rating
1 Sunil Narine WI 773 17.75 5.69 817 v Pak at St. Vincent 2013
2 Samuel Badree WI 751 14.96 5.39 855 v Pak at Mirpur 2014
3 S. Senanayake SL 699* 17.45 6.19 712 v Eng at The Oval 2014
4 Lasith Malinga SL 684! 21.02 7.27 684 v WI at Colombo (RPS) 2015
5 R. Ashwin Ind 681 26.96 7.24 717 v SA at Mirpur 2014
6 Mitchell Starc Aus 659 19.53 6.72 702 v Pak at Dubai 2014
7 N. McCullum NZ 642 22.85 6.90 709 v Zim at Harare 2011
8 Imran Tahir SA 641* 15.77 6.45 675 v WI at Johannesburg 2015
9 Shahid Afridi Pak 638 24.30 6.60 814 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2009
10 Dawlat Zadran Afg 631! 20.48 7.33 631 v Zim at Bulawayo 2015
Other selected rankings (top 75)
Rank Player Team Pts Avge Eco. HS Rating
16 Sohail Tanvir Pak 596! 27.57 7.08 596 v Zim at Harare 2015
68 Shoaib Malik Pak 391* 20.09 6.66 402 v SL at Lord’s 2009
75 Mohammad Irfan Pak 377*! 34.50 7.13 377 v Zim at Harare 2015
All-rounders (top three)
Rank Player Team Pts HS Rating
1 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 362 408 v Pak at Mirpur 2015
2 M. Hafeez Pak 315 440 v SL at Dubai 2013
3 Shahid Afridi Pak 311 413 v NZ at Dubai 2009