Daily Times

LAHORE: Australia have a chance to attain top position in the ICC T20I Team Rankings for the first time when they take on Pakistan in a three-match series starting in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates from Wednesday (today). 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 are 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 second position with a 2-1 series win.

On the other hand, Pakistan need 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 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.

Schedule:

Pakistan v Australia:

24 October – 1st T20I, Abu Dhabi

26 October – 2nd T20I, Dubai

28 October – 3rd T20I, Dubai.

ICC T20I Team Rankings

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

13                  UAE                                50

14               Netherlands                      50

15               Hong Kong                         42

16               Oman                                  39

17                Ireland                               35

Published in Daily Times, October 24^th 2018.