Australia dethrone Pakistan as world’s No 1 T20I team

KARACHI: Australia’s cricket is on the rise again. And one of the losers of their gain are Pakistan.

On Friday, Australia brushed the Pakistanis aside to replace them as the new No.1 team in the world Twenty20 International rankings. Australia’s rise to the top ended Pakistan’s 27-month reign at the top of the T20I charts.

The Australians also dislodged India as the world’s top Test team but were unable to overcome arch-rivals and World Cup champions England, who retained their No.1 ranking in One-day Internationals.

As for the Pakistanis, they didn’t just lose the number one rank but slipped to No.4 in the T20I rankings issued by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The reason behind Pakistan’s slump is their below-par performances in the 20-over format during the last few months. Their dismal form surprisingly came after a period of unprecedented success under the command of now deposed captain Sarfraz Ahmed. Another reason behind their fall from No.1 to No.4 is the fact that the ICC issued an annual update on Friday, which eliminates results from 2016-17.

With 278 points, Australia top the list for the first time since the T20I rankings were introduced in 2011. Pakistan, who had overtaken New Zealand to reach top position in January 2018 and then spent 27 months there, are now fourth with 260 points. England have moved into second position with 268 points while India are up one place to third, just two points behind.

Australia, who faced a bit of a slump last year, have been performing impressively in recent times with seven wins in nine matches against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South Africa which has left them tipped as one of the favourites for the T20 World Cup later this year if the tournament is able to go ahead.

“I also know how hard it is to win [the] World Cup,” said Justin Langer, Australia’s head coach. “England were very deserved winners of the one-day World Cup last year and everything has to go right, you can’t have an off day.”

In the latest update, that rates all matches played since May 2019 at 100 percent and those of the previous two years at 50 percent, Australia (116) have taken over from India as the top ranked side in the Test Team Rankings with New Zealand (115) remaining in second place. India are now third with 114 points. Pakistan are currently ranked 7th in the Test rankings.

With only two points separating them, this is the second closest the top three teams have been since the Test rankings were launched in 2003. The closest for the top three teams was in January 2016, when India had led Australia and South Africa by a single point.

India have yielded the top spot for the first time since October 2016. This is largely because India had won 12 Tests and lost just one Test in 2016-17, the records of which were removed in the latest update. They had won all five series during this period including against Australia and England. On the other hand, Australia had lost to South Africa as well as to India in the same period.

South Africa have suffered the biggest rating fall of eight points, which sees them drop below Sri Lanka into sixth place. They had won three series in the period culled, while they have lost eight of their nine Tests since February 2019, playing against Sri Lanka, India and England.

India still lead the ICC World Test Championship, a league comprising six series played by each of the top nine Test sides.

In the ODI Team Rankings, reigning world champions England (127) have increased their lead over India from six to eight points. New Zealand remain in third place, three points behind India. The top ten rankings remain unchanged with Pakistan at the sixth spot.