India, South Africa drop while England rise in the annual T20I Team rankings update

The 2007 T20 World Cup champions- Indian team has dropped down to the fourth position in the latest update of ICC T20I Team Rankings as of May 2. South Africa as well tumbled down in the ranking by a couple of places. England galloped three places to the second position on the table.

New Zealand still remains on top of the table with 125 points. England gained a whopping 7 points in rankings to attain the second position which took their tally to 121. 2009 World Cup T20 champions, Pakistan earned 5 points to reach the third position of the table with 121 points. Only a fraction of a point divides the two team in the ranking.

India currently have 118 points and have lost six points and two places to be placed at the fourth position. South Africa too lost six points and two places to acquire the fifth spot in the ranking.

These rankings hold significance as the top 10 teams automatically qualify for the 2020 World Cup in Australia. The final cut-off date for qualification is 31 December 2018. The reigning T20 World Cup champions West Indies are currently at the seventh position. Australia holds the sixth place in the table and currently are at 110 points.

Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh hold the eighth, ninth and tenth position respectively. Scotland is at 11th rank with 67 points (up by four), followed by the UAE at 13th (52, up by four), Netherlands are 14th (49, down by nine), Hong Kong 15th (46, up by three), PNG 16th (39, down by four), Oman 17th (38, down by one) and Ireland is at the 18th (36, down by four).

The eight Associate teams have to contest in the qualification round before participating in the competition. Out of the eight teams, only two would progress into the next round with the top 10 teams.

Here is how the T20I Team Rankings look like: