ISLAMABAD – All of Australia, India and England could challenge Pakistanfor the No.1 ranking.
According to a *press release of International Cricket Council*link> (ICC), top-rankedPakistan, second-ranked Australia and third-ranked India will all be seenin action in upcoming matches as the uppermost tiers of the MRF Tyres ICCT20I Team Rankings have the potential to change over the next two weeks.
Pakistan, who lead the table with 131 points, will be the favourites in theupcoming Zimbabwe Tri-Series to be played in Harare from 1-8 July but thepresence of Australia in the competition spices up the contests as thereigning ICC Cricket World Cup champions are only five points behindPakistan and with a good chance to overtake them.
Irrespective of the result of Australia’s one-off match against Englandahead of the tournament, they can overtake Pakistan in the double-league ifthey win all their four matches against Pakistan and Zimbabwe. In such ascenario, they will move ahead of Pakistan even if the latter win boththeir matches against Zimbabwe.
Australia can go up to 137 points if they beat England, win their fourleague matches and beat Pakistan in the final, while Pakistan willsimilarly reach 136 points if they win all their four league matches andthe final against Australia. Zimbabwe, currently placed 12th, will overtakeScotland on the points table even with a solitary win in the tournament.
India have the potential of reaching 127 points by winning their fivematches – two against Ireland and three against England. On the other hand,England could go up to 126 points if they beat Australia and then defeatIndia 3-0. India or England could reach the top spot if Zimbabwe are ableto pull off a couple of upsets in the Tri-Series and depending on otherresults, Australia and Pakistan could be restricted to below those numbers.
Ireland, placed 17th on the points table, will overtake Oman if they winone match against India and will move to 15th position, also ahead of HongKong, if they pull off a 2-0 series win.
In the MRF Tyres ICC T20I Player Rankings, Pakistan’s Babar Azam heads thelist of batsmen while the Australia pair of Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finchare in third and fourth positions. India captain Virat Kohli, a formertop-ranked batsman, will be looking to claw back from his eighth positionwhile England’s Jos Buttler would be looking to continue his ODI form andbetter his 26th position in T20Is.
Wrist-spinners Shadab Khan of Pakistan (2nd) and Yuzvendra Chahal of India(3rd) will be the leading bowlers seen in upcoming matches while Zimbabwe’sHamilton Masakadza (10th among batsmen) and Ireland’s George Dockrell (19thamong bowlers) will be the others looking to better their positions.