India And England Retain First And Second Spot In The ICC T20I Rankings

The Indian team retained the second spot in the latest ICC T20 rankings, released by the sport’s apex body. England, who recently suffered an away series defeat to the Indian side, remained at the top. Apart from the men in blue and English outfit, New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh also experienced movements in the rankings.

New Zealand, who toppled England as the number one ODI team, surged to third in the rankings from fifth after home series victories over West Indies, Pakistan, Australia, and Bangladesh. On the other hand, Australia slumped to fifth after a tight series loss by 2-3 to the Kiwis. They also sustained a series loss to India at home in December 2020.

As for Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, they have gained one spot each to occupy the eighth and ninth position, respectively. On the contrary, West Indies moved down to the 10th slot. According to the ICC, these updates eliminate results from 2017-18 and have the weightage of matches played in the 2019-20 season. During this period, England only lost to India, while they convincingly beat Australia at home and South Africa away.

India one of the firm favourites for lifting the T20 World Cup:

Meanwhile, series wins over England and Australia have made Virat Kohli’s men one of the chief contenders to win the T20 World Cup this year. The men in blue only have limited spots; however, several players have put their hands up and the ongoing IPL 2021 will only give the selectors more headaches. While India will most likely host the tournament, UAE remains a backup venue due to the rising COVID-19 cases in the former.

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