Windies fall in T20 rankings
REIGNING WORLD champions the Windies have slipped to ninth in the new expanded ICC Twenty20 (T20) team rankings. In the latest release yesterday, which reflects changes following the annual update, the Caribbean side found themselves only above Bangladesh of the long-standing Test-playing nations.
After results from 2015-16 were removed and those between 2016-18 weighed at 50 per cent, the Windies were overtaken by minnows Afghanistan, who moved up one place to seven and Sri Lanka, who also climbed one spot into eighth.
The ranking represents the lowest for the Windies since they won their second T20 World Cup title in 2016 when they beat England in a dramatic final in Kolkata.
Since that conquest, however, the Windies form
has dropped off considerably, losing 13 of 17 T20 Internationals over the last 17 months.
They will defend their title in Australia next year when the T20 World Cup bowls off from October 18 to November 15, 2020.
Pakistan have, meanwhile, strengthened their position at the top of the rankings on 286 points, but only four points separate the next four teams in the table. South Africa lie second on 262, England are third on 261, while Australia sit in fourth spot, also on 261 points.
India (260) are fifth, six clear of New Zealand, who boast a considerable 13-point gap on Afghanistan.
For the first time, the ICC has expanded the rankings to include all 80 members with the likes of European nations like Austria and Luxembourg, along with African sides like Botswana and Mozambique comprising the new table.