Australia has a chance to attain top position in the MRF Tyres ICC T20I Team Rankings for the first time when they take on Pakistan in a three-match series in the United Arab Emirates from Wednesday.
The mission though is not easy since only a 3-0 victory will lift the reigning 50-over World champions to become the eighth side to attain top ranking in the T20I format. England, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the Windies are the other sides to have been top-ranked.
Australia, who scored an easy seven-wicket win over the United Arab Emirates on Monday, are presently third with 123 points, just one point behind India, while Pakistan is perched at 132 points. A series sweep will take Australia to 130 points and bring Pakistan down to 127 points while Australia will move ahead of India to the second position with a 2-1 series win.
On the other hand, Pakistan needs to win just one of the three matches to remain in top place.
Series scenarios:
- Pakistan win 3-0: Pakistan 136 points, Australia 118 points
- Pakistan win 2-1: Pakistan133, Australia 122
- Australia win 2-1: Pakistan 130, Australia 126
- Australia win 3-0: Australia 130, Pakistan 127
There would also be several top-ranked players looking forward to the series with enthusiasm.
Australia captain Aaron Finch leads the list of batsmen in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings with Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman aiming to bridge the 49-point gap.
Glenn Maxwell, the top-ranked all-rounder, would be looking to improve his ranking among batsmen as he is currently in sixth place with 761 points, only four behind Babar Azam of the opposing side.
In the bowlers’ list, Pakistan leg-spinner Shadab Khan gets a chance to bridge the gap with Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan, who is the top-ranked bowler. Andrew Tye also has a chance to move up from his current sixth position.
In between, Sri Lanka and England will play a one-off T20I which could see England lose one position with a defeat. They will lose four points and go down to 113 points and fifth position in such a scenario even as Sri Lanka will gain two points but remain ninth. On the other hand, there will be no change in positions with an England win, England going up to 117 points and Sri Lanka slipping to 87 points.
The predictor function is available here.
Upcoming matches:
Pakistan v Australia:
24 October – 1st T20I, Abu Dhabi
26 October – 2nd T20I, Dubai
28 October – 3rd T20I, Dubai
Sri Lanka v England:
27 October – Only T20I, Colombo
MRF Tyres ICC T20I Team Rankings (as of 23 October):
Rank   Team              Points
1        Pakistan       132
2        India         124
3        Australia       123
4        England       117
5        New Zealand    116
6        South Africa    114
7        Windies       106
8        Afghanistan     92
9        Sri Lanka       88
10       Bangladesh     77
11       Scotland       62
12       Zimbabwe     55
13Â Â Â Â Â Â Â UAEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 50
14       Netherlands    50
15       Hong Kong     42
16       Oman         39
17       Ireland        35
*Nepal have 26 rating points but need to play one more match before being ranked
MRF Tyres ICC T20I Player Rankings (as of 23 October):
Batsmen (top 20)
Rank     Player                Team    Pts       Avge     S/R       Highest Rating
1        Aaron Finch        Aus       891      45.60    162       900 v Zim at Harare 2018
2        Fakhar Zaman    Pak       842!     30.76    144       842 v Aus at Harare 2018
3        Lokesh Rahul      Ind        812      49.71    155 854 v Eng at Old Trafford 2018
4        Colin Munro        NZ         801      33.51    164  805 v Pak at Wellington 2018
5        Babar Azam        Pak       765      53.00    127       881 v Win at Karachi 2018
6        Glenn Maxwell    Aus       761      32.94    163       801 v NZ at Auckland 2018
7        Martin Guptill       NZ         746      34.40    133   792 v SA at Hamilton 2012
8        Alex Hales           Eng       710      32.67    136  866 v Ind at Edgbaston 2014
9        D’Arcy Short        Aus       690*!    41.88    132       690 v Pak at Harare 2018
10       Rohit Sharma      Ind        678      32.59    137       681 v Ban at Mirpur 2016
11=     Evin Lewis           Win       671*     33.06    157   780 v Eng at Durham 2017
Virat Kohli           Ind        671      48.88    136  897 v Eng at Edgbaston 2014
13       M. Shahzad         Afg        647      31.22    135   706 v Ire at Greater Noida
14       Jason Roy           Eng       641!     21.74    142       641 v Ind at Bristol 2018
15       Kane Williamson NZ         634      31.33    121       760 v Ban at Napier 2017
16       Jos Buttler           Eng       614!     27.10    138       614 v Ind at Bristol 2018
17       Hashim Amla      SA         602      33.60    132       682 v Ban 2017
18       H. Masakadza     Zim       599      27.07    117       698 v Ban at Khulna 2016
19       Eoin Morgan       Eng       596      28.71    132  872 v Ind at Old Trafford 2011
20       Joe Root             Eng       595      35.77    129       750 v Win at Kolkata 2016
Bowlers (top 20)
Rank     Player                 Team    Pts       Avge     Eco      Highest Rating
1        Rashid Khan       Afg        793      12.40    6.01   816 v Ban at Dehradun
2        Shadab Khan      Pak       723      18.00    6.72     769 v Sco at Edinburgh
3        Ish Sodhi             NZ         700      19.33    7.43     739 v Pak at Wellington
4        Y. Chahal            Ind        685      18.97    7.85     706 v Ban at Colombo
5        Mitchell Santner  NZ         665      21.37    7.14     731 v Pak at Wellington
6        Andrew Tye         Aus       658!     20.89    8.70     658 v Pak at Harare 2018
7        Samuel Badree   Win       655      21.07    6.17     855 v Pak at Mirpur 2014
8        Imran Tahir         SA         653      14.95    6.77   795 v NZ at Auckland 2017
9        Adil Rashid          Eng       639      28.82    7.68     640 v Ind at Cardiff 2018
10       Shakib Al Hasan Ban       633      21.06    6.74     672 v Pak at Mirpur 2014
11       Mohammad Nabi Afg        630      24.25    7.13   638 v Ban at Dehradun 2018
12       Liam Plunkett      Eng       627      25.04    7.81     643 v Ind at Cardiff 2018
13       Mohammad Amir Pak       609      19.98    6.83   700 v Aus at Edgbaston 2010
14       David Willey        Eng       607      24.67    8.44     615 v Ind at Cardiff 2018
15       Trent Boult          NZ         599      21.18    8.53     622 v Aus at Sydney 2018
16=     Chris Jordan       Eng       598      28.71    8.82     628 v Ind at Nagpur 2017
17.    Rahman      Ban    598      17.44  7.38  695 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2017
18       Billy Stanlake      Aus       570*!    23.43    8.33     570 v Pak at Harare 2018
19       Mark Watt           Sco       568      26.36    7.53  573 v Pak at Edinburgh 2018
20=     Jasprit Bumrah    Ind        566      19.93    6.79  764 v Eng at Bengaluru 2017
All-rounders (top five)
Rank     Player                 Team    Pts       Highest Rating
1        Glenn Maxwell    Aus       366      396 v Eng at Melbourne 2018
2        Mohammad Nabi Afg        313      323 v Ban at Dehradun 2018
3        Shakib Al Hasan Ban       309      408 v Pak at Mirpur 2015
4        JP Duminy          SA         225      276 v Ban at Mirpur 2015
5        Marlon Samuels  Win       222      321 v SL at Mirpur 2014
*indicates provisional rating
! indicates best rating