Pakistan maintain No.1 rank in T20Is despite losing series to Australia

Pakistan lost their third successive T20I series of the year when they were thrashed by Australia by 10 wickets in the third game of a bilateral series in Perth on Thursday. Led by a new captain in Babar Azam, Pakistan could manage only 106 for 8 in 20 overs and the Kangaroos knocked off the runs with over eight overs to spare without losing a wicket.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) also came out with its latest rankings and Pakistan supporters were relieved to see that their team continues to be No.1. Pakistan lost 1-2 to South Africa earlier in the year, then a home series to Sri Lanka 0-3 recently before the latest 0-2 defeat.

Pakistan won only one of their last 10 T20Is

Pakistan have won only one of their last 10 T20Is while losing eight. One game — the first match against Australia in the latest series — was hit by rain and no result was possible. Pakistan’s last bilateral series win came in October-November 2018 when they whitewashed New Zealand 3-0 in the UAE. They also lost one game to England in their den before the World Cup.

However, Australia made a big improvement in the latest ranking by rising to the second spot. The Kangaroos last lost a T20I series in October last year when Pakistan thumped them 3-0 in the UAE. They lost a one-off game against South Africa and drew India 1-1 at home before defeating India 2-0 in an away series earlier this year. They recently annihilated Sri Lanka 3-0 before winning against Pakistan. They were trailing Pakistan by just one rating in the latest ranking.

In the players’ rankings, Babar maintained his top position in batting in T20Is while Imad Wasim was the No.2 in bowling. In the all-rounders’ category, Australian Glenn Maxwell topped the table. The batting all-rounder, who recently took an indefinite break from cricket citing an ill mental health, was also the No.2 among the T20 batsmen while Australia captain Aaron Finch was at No.4.

In Tests, India remained at No.1 while New Zealand replaced England as the No.2 team. In the ODIs, England remained the table topper while India were at No.2 followed by 2019 World Cup runners-up New Zealand.

Here are the ICC T20I Team rankings