Sri Lanka needs to just square the two-match series to retain its number-one T20I ranking
Australia has the opportunity to do the ICC World Twenty20 2012 champion West Indies a huge favour when it plays Sri Lanka in a two-match Twenty20 International Series from 26 January in Sydney.
Sri Lanka, the losing finalist of the ICC World Twenty20 2012, is currently ranked number-one on the Reliance ICC
T20I Championship Table with 127 ratings points and leads second-placed West Indies by five ratings points.
However, if seventh-ranked Australia wins both its games against Sri Lanka, then Angelo Mathews’ side will drop down to fourth place on 117 ratings points, putting West Indies at the top of the table. A 2-0 series win for George Bailey’s side would see it gain eight ratings points to join sixth-ranked Pakistan on 116 ratings points but below Mohammad Hafeez’s side when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.
Australia next plays West Indies in a one-off Twenty20 International on 13 February at Brisbane. A positive result for Australia against Sri Lanka could help West Indies strengthen its claim for the number-one rank in the one-off match.
As far as Sri Lanka is concerned, even one win in the two-match series will be enough for it to retain the number-one rank. Nevertheless, it would result in dropping at least two ratings points.
In the event of Sri Lanka winning the series 2-0 against Australia, it would strengthen its hold at the number-one position with 131 ratings points, nine ahead of the West Indies.
To find out exactly how the forthcoming series will affect the T20I Championship Table. The T20I and ODI Championship table is updated after every match, unlike the Test Championship table, which is updated after every match.
The batting table is headed by Australia’s Shane Watson, who will be missing in action due to an injury, followed by Chris Gayle in second and Brendon McCullum in third position.
There are three other batsmen inside the top 20 who are likely to be seen in action in the series, including Mahela Jayawardena in fourth, David Warner in 10th and Tillakratne Dilshan in 11th.
The bowlers’ table is headed by Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal, followed by Ajantha Mendis in second place and England’s Graeme Swann in third.
Apart from Mendis, Sri Lanka has three more bowlers inside the top 20-Nuwan Kulasekara in sixth, Angelo Mathews in ninth and Lasith Malinga in 14th.
Watson heads the all-rounders’ table as well, with Mohammad Hafeez in second place and Yuvraj Singh in third position.
The player rankings will now be updated on 29 January.
Upcoming fixtures
Australia v Sri Lanka
26 Jan – First T20I (d/n), Sydney
28 Jan – Second T20I (d/n), Melbourne
Reliance ICC T20I Championship (as on 24 January)
Rank Team Rating
1 Sri Lanka 127
2 West Indies 122
3 India 119
4 England 118
5 South Africa 117
6 Pakistan 116
7 Australia 108
8 New Zealand 98
9 Bangladesh 84
10 Ireland 82
11 Zimbabwe 44
Not ranked as fewer than eight T20I matches played since August 2010
Afghanistan 76
Netherlands 73
Scotland 67
Canada 11
Kenya 2
Reliance ICC T20I Rankings (as on 24 January)
Batsmen
Rank Player Team Pts Ave S/R HS Ranking
1 Shane Watson Aus 798 30.62 148 831 v SA at Colombo (RPS) 2012
2 Chris Gayle WI 792 36.48 145 830 v Aus at Colombo (RPS) 2012
3 B McCullum NZ 787 34.77 132 842 v Ban at Pallekele 2012
4 M Jayawardena SL 759 32.21 134 784 v Aus at Pallekele 2011
5 Virat Kohli Ind 730*! 34.87 130 730 v Pak at Ahmedabad 2012
6 Marlon Samuels WI 723*! 32.44 137 723 v Ban at Mirpur 2012
7 Martin Guptill NZ 720 33.93 124 792 v SA at Hamilton 2012
8 Eoin Morgan Eng 719 36.90 133 872 v Ind at Old Trafford 2011
9 Suresh Raina Ind 718 33.60 136 776 v Eng at Kolkata 2011
10 David Warner Aus 714 27.04 139 824 v WI at St Lucia 2010
11 T Dilshan SL 690 28.89 123 800 v NZ at Colombo (RPS) 2009
12 K Sangakkara SL 677 30.00 121 760 v WI at Barbados 2010
13 Yuvraj Singh Ind 645 30.42 149 790 v SA at St Lucia 2010
14 Alex Hales Eng 633*! 34.83 127 633 v Ind at Mumbai 2012
15= H Masakadza Zim 627* 26.59 117 650 v SL at Hambantota 2012
JP Duminy SA 627 32.82 122 691 v Eng at Durham 2012
17 Gautam Gambhir Ind 600 27.41 119 718 v SL at Mohali 2009
18 Umar Akmal Pak 596 26.96 117 707 v Zim at Harare 2011
19 M Hafeez Pak 593! 23.17 114 593 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2012
20 Jacques Kallis SA 583 35.05 119 731 v Eng at Durham 2012
Bowlers
Rank Player Team Pts Ave Econ HS Ranking
1 Saeed Ajmal Pak 756 16.32 6.23 787 v NZ at Pallekele 2012
2 Ajantha Mendis SL 746 10.76 5.74 761 v WI at Colombo (RPS) 2012
3 Graeme Swann Eng 720 16.84 6.36 759 v Pak at Cardiff 2010
4 N McCullum NZ 669 18.95 6.46 709 v Zim at Harare 2011
5 Shane Watson Aus 665 20.42 7.19 671 v Pak at Colombo (RPS) 2012
6 N Kulasekara SL 660! 25.48 7.33 660 v NZ at Pallekele 2012
7 Abdur Razzak Ban 644 17.94 6.82 661 v Ire at Belfast 2012
8 Shahid Afridi Pak 643 21.76 6.32 813 v NZ at Dubai 2009
9 Angelo Mathews SL 639! 24.23 6.42 639 v NZ at Pallekele 2012
10= Sunil Narine WI 638*! 18.37 6.16 638 v Ban at Mirpur 2012
Dale Steyn SA 638 16.64 6.30 687 v WI at Antigua 2010
12 M Hafeez Pak 635 23.43 6.73 661 v Eng at Dubai 2012
13 Johan Botha SA 634 22.24 6.37 733 v NZ at Auckland 2012
14 Lasith Malinga SL 626 21.35 7.48 679 v Eng at Bristol 2011
15 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 625 22.70 6.88 658 v Ire at Belfast 2012
16 R Ashwin Ind 618! 37.85 7.48 618 v Pak at Ahmedabad 2012
17 Morne Morkel SA 612 19.53 6.83 646 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
18 Trent Johnston Ire 610 19.86 6.26 632 v Ban at Belfast 2012
19= Stuart Broad Eng 600 23.18 7.34 671 v Pak at Cardiff 2010
Prosper Utseya Zim 600 29.43 6.74 614 v SL at Hambantota 2012
All-rounders
Rank Player Team Pts HS Ranking
1 Shane Watson Aus 531 557 v SA at Colombo (RPS) 2012
2 M Hafeez Pak 377! 377 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2012
3 Yuvraj Singh Ind 335/*! 335 v Pak at Ahmedabad 2012
4= Chris Gayle WI 301/*! 301 v Ban at Mirpur 2012
Marlon Samuels WI 301*/*! 301 v Ban at Mirpur 2012
6 Shahid Afridi Pak 284 413 v NZ at Dubai 2009
7 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 259*/ 269 v Pak at Pallekele 2012
8 David Hussey Aus 241/* 349 v Ind at Melbourne 2012
9 Angelo Mathews SL 231*/ ! 231 v NZ at Pallekele 2012
10 Dwayne Bravo WI 228 238 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2012
