West Indies storm to fourth in ICC T20 rankings; Motie among players on the rise

Two-time champions West Indies have moved up to fourth position in the ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings, their players showing some great form ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, which they co-host from June 1-29.

The winners of the 2012 and 2016 editions of the tournament are ahead of New Zealand and South Africa after their 3-0 win over South Africa, who were pushed down to seventh position in the list led by India.

India, winners of the inaugural edition in 2007, are on 264 rating points, 2021 champions Australia are second with 257 points, defending champions England third with 254 points and the West Indies two points behind them on 252. New Zealand are on 250 while Pakistan and South Africa are both on 244 points with Pakistan slightly ahead on decimal points.

The West Indies players too have reaped the benefits of their superb performances in the home series not long before their tournament opener against Papua New Guinea in Guyana on June 2.

Opening batter Brandon King is up five places to eighth position after topping the series aggregate with 159 runs and Johnson Charles, who hammered 69 off 26 balls to be named Player-of-the-Match in the third T20I, is up 17 places to 20th.

Kyle Mayers is another batter to move up, gaining 12 places to reach 31st position with an aggregate of 102 runs while left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie has advanced a whopping 84 places to 27th after finishing with eight wickets in the series.

In the latest weekly update that also considers performances in the last two matches of the Bangladesh-USA series and the ongoing series between England and Pakistan, England captain Jos Buttler has inched up to seventh position, Jonny Bairstow is up eight places to 36th while Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman has advanced from 57th to 51st.

In the bowling rankings, Shaheen Afridi is up three places to 11th, while Imad Wasim is another Pakistan player to gain, up 14 places to 38th.

For the USA, Steven Taylor has made big gains, progressing 28 places to 109 in the batting rankings while for Bangladesh, Rishad Hussain has moved up 38 places to 52nd in the bowling rankings. (ICC)