Sri Lanka slips to ninth in T20I rankings behind Afghanistan

Following the annual update of the ICC ODI and T20I Team rankings Sri Lanka have slipped to ninth position (from eighth) in the T20I standings behind newcomers Afghanistan (ranked 8th) and in the ODI rankings although retaining eighth position they have lost the most points – 7 (from 84 to 77).

Sri Lanka had a horrendous 2017 year where they lost 23 of 29 ODIs and 10 out of 15 T20Is.

Meanwhile England have overtaken India to seize the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while Nepal have rejoined the T20I ratings but will need to play one more match before they are ranked on the ICC T20I rankings.

England’s rise up the table is largely because of a forgettable 2014-15 season which saw them winning only seven out of 25 ODIs against other Full Members. The 2014-15 season has been dropped from the latest calculations while those from the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons are weighted at 50 per cent.

England, who last topped the ODI rankings in January 2013 have gained eight points and moved to 125 points. India, who were at the top before the update, have lost a solitary point and are in second place with a total of 122 points. South Africa, who were second, have dropped down to third place after losing four points, from 117 to 113, leaving them nine points adrift of India and only one point ahead of fourth- placed New Zealand.

The remaining places remain unchanged, meaning that the current top 10 ranked sides are the ones who will be playing in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. However, there have been some significant changes in points.

World champions Australia have lost eight points to go down to 104 in fifth position and are only two points ahead of ICC Champions Trophy 2017 winners Pakistan, who have gained six points.

In other changes, Bangladesh (93 points) have gained three points, Sri Lanka (77) have lost seven points, the Windies (69) have lost five points, Afghanistan (63) have gained five points, Zimbabwe (55) have gained four points and 12th-placed Ireland (38) have lost three points.

In the T20I rankings led by Pakistan, there is no change in the top seven places but Afghanistan are now ahead of Sri Lanka in eighth slot.

Pakistan (130) and Australia (126) remain in the first two positions without a change in their points total while India have gained two points to reach 123. New Zealand (116) are unchanged on points while England (115) have gained a solitary point.

Other significant changes on the T20I table see South Africa (114) and the Windies (114) both gain three points with the former ahead on decimals in sixth position, Sri Lanka (85, ninth position) lose four points, Zimbabwe (58, 12th) lose three points, the Netherlands (53, 13th) gain four points, Hong Kong (42, 15th) lose four points and Ireland (33, 17th) lose three points.

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