With the T20 World Cup 2024 just around the corner, the Pakistan cricket team has improved their place in the latest T20I rankings issued by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Babar Azam’s team, which was previously ranked seventh in T20I cricket, has moved up one spot to become the sixth-best team in this format.
The West Indies, who have won the championship twice, have moved up to fourth place. Their players are performing well as they prepare for the big event, which the Caribbean nation will co-host with the United States from June 1 to 29.
The winners of the 2012 and 2016 editions of the tournament are ahead of New Zealand and South Africa after their 3-0 win over South Africa, who were pushed down to seventh position in the list led by India
“India, winners of the inaugural edition in 2007, are ranked as the top T20I team with 264 rating points, 2021 champions Australia are second with 257 points, defending champions England third with 254 points and the West Indies two points behind them on 252. New Zealand are on 250 while Pakistan and South Africa are both on 244 points with Pakistan slightly ahead on decimal points.” said the cricketing body.
The improvement in team ranking comes after several Pakistani players jumped multiple places in the ICC Rankings.
Fakhar Zaman, a left-handed batter for the Green Shirts, has moved up six places to 51st on the batting list. Shaheen Afridi has advanced three places to 11th on the bowling chart.
In the all-rounder category, Imad Wasim has climbed four places to 12th. He shares this spot with Shadab Khan, who has dropped one place.
Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam remain in third and fourth place, respectively, in the T20I batting rankings.
The T20I bowling rankings are led by England’s Adil Rashid, with Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga and India’s Axar Patel in second and third place, respectively.
Meanwhile, India’s Suryakumar Yadav is ranked as the number one T20I batter followed by England’s Phil Salt in second place.
The all-rounder category is topped by Sri Lanka’s Hasaranga with a rating of 228 followed by Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan who fell one place and is ranked second.
Sri Lanka’s Hasaranga leads the all-rounder rankings with a score of 228, while Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan has dropped to second place.
