Daily Times

LAHORE: India will do Pakistan a huge favour if they defeat New Zealand in an upcoming three-match Twenty20 International series as such a result will see their arch rivals top the ICC T20I Team Rankings. New Zealand are the top-ranked side in the shortest format with 125 points but Pakistan have closed in to within one point after securing a 3-0 win in their series against Sri Lanka that culminated in Lahore on Sunday. India are placed fifth at 116 points and can at best go to second position with a 3-0 win over New Zealand which will take them to 122 points. Pakistan will reach the top rank with their tally of 124 points in such a scenario with New Zealand slipping to 114 points and fifth position. Even a 2-1 series win for India will be enough for Pakistan to move to the top with New Zealand slipping to 121 points.

India v New Zealand series scenarios:

India win 3-0 – India 122 points, New Zealand 114 points

India win 2-1- New Zealand 121 points, India 118 points

New Zealand win 2-1 – New Zealand 126 points, India 115 points

New Zealand win 3-0 – New Zealand 132 points, India 111 points

Meanwhile, India pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah will head into the series on Wednesday as the number one bowler in the ICC T20I Player Rankings which were updated after the Pakistan-Sri Lanka and South Africa-Bangladesh series.

Bumrah, who attained a career-best third position in the ODI rankings on Monday, has regained the T20I top spot after Pakistan spinner Imad Wasim slipped one place. India captain Virat Kohli, who on Monday edged AB de Villiers to claim top ranking in ODIs, also goes into the New Zealand T20I series as the top-ranked batsman in the format.

For New Zealand, captain Kane Williamson is the leading batsman at fourth place while left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner is the leading bowler in 12th position. Meanwhile, South Africa batsman David Miller’s record-breaking 101 not out in Potchefstroom and an aggregate of 126 runs in the series has seen him move up 16 places to 22nd rank while Hashim Amla’s 88 runs have helped him gain five slots to reach seventh position. Other batsmen to move up after these two series are Bangladesh’s Soumya Sarkar (up 19 places to 28th) and Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik (up three places to 26th).

South Africa spinner Aaron Phangiso (up 19 places to 47th) has also made significant gains while Pakistan bowlers Shadab Khan (up 21 places to 40th), Mohammad Aamir (up 21 places to 49th) and Hasan Ali (up 10 places to 63rd) have made good progress.

          ICC T20I Team Rankings

Rank Team Points

1  New Zealand         1251
2 Pakistan                 124 (+3)
3  West Indies          120
4  England                 119
5  India                      116
6  South Africa         112 (+2)
7  Australia               111
8  Sri Lanka              91 (-2)
9  Afghanistan          86
10 Bangladesh          76 (-2)
11  Scotland               67
12  Zimbabwe           65
13  UAE                     52
14  Netherlands       49
15  Hong Kong         46
16  PNG                     39
17  Oman                   38
18 Ireland                 36