Team India advance to top of ICC T20I team rankings for first time in six years

A 3-0 whitewash over West Indies took India to the top of the ICC T20I team rankings. Rohit Sharma’s side overtook England to get the pinnacle position, with the Men in Blue now matching the top rating of 269. However, India’s tally of 10,484 points is 10 more than England’s 10,474. It must be noted India became the top-ranked T20I team for the first time in six years and would be pleased with their efforts.

Although West Indies put up a substantial fight in all three matches, they couldn’t register a single victory. India advanced to a 17-run triumph in the third and final T20I of the series on Sunday (February 20) and subsequently clinched an emphatic 3-0 clean sweep of the series.

Suryakumar Yadav, who scored an unbeaten 31-ball 65 in the last game, was named the Player of the Match as well as the Player of the Series. Besides him, the likes of all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer, leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi and fast bowler Harshal Patel were impressive throughout the series. As far as West Indies are concerned, Nicholas Pooran and Roston Chase did extremely well in the batting and bowling departments respectively.

Happy with the series win: Indian skipper Rohit Sharma

Skipper Rohit Sharma was mighty impressed with his team’s performance and he expressed the same in the post-match conversation. “Happy with the series. Pretty much got everything that we wanted. We do understand we are very young as a team. We are still a good chasing side, but a lot of the players are missing. So we wanted the guys to understand how to bat in pressure situations,” said Rohit.

“We have the (T20) World Cup in mind and we are trying to give game time for individuals. Sri Lanka will be a different challenge. But I am not someone who looks at the opposition, I would like to see what we can do as a team,” he added.

Meanwhile, Pakistan (rating of 266), New Zealand (255) and South Africa (253) are the other teams in the top five rankings. Defending T20 World Cup champions Australia, with 249 points, remain at the sixth place despite the 4-1 series against Sri Lanka.