Sri Lanka will stake its number-one ranking on the Reliance ICC T20I Championship Table when it plays Bangladesh on Sunday in a one-off Twenty20 International at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
Sri Lanka leads ninth-ranked Bangladesh by 47 ratings points and this gap means Sri Lanka is favourite to win the one-off match. As such, because the rankings are weighted to reflect this difference, failure to win the match will mean Sri Lanka will drop five ratings points and slip one ratings point behind the second-ranked West Indies.
However, if Sri Lanka wins the match, then it will gain one ratings point and will extend its advantage over the West Indies to six ratings points.
Sri Lanka’s victory will, however, cost Bangladesh a drop of two ratings points that will put it at par with Ireland on 82 ratings points, but ahead of the Associate side when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal points.
To find out exactly how the forthcoming series will affect the T20I Championship Table, please click here. The T20I and ODI Championship Tables are updated after every match, unlike the Test Championship Table, which is updated after every series.
Chandimal starts new era as captain
Meanwhile, the one-off match on Sunday will also herald the start of a new era for Sri Lanka in the format.
Sri Lanka will be led by wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Chandimal for the first time in the format with fast bowler Lasith Malinga being his deputy.
Chandimal will miss the services of experienced former captains Mahela Jayawardena, Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan who are sitting in second, 12th and 13th positions, respectively on the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for T20I batsmen.
New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum continues to head the batting table.
Among the bowlers, third-ranked Ajantha Mendis and fifth-ranked Nuwan Kulasekara will not be in action for Sri Lanka. But Malinga in 12th and former captain Angelo Mathews in 13th place will lead Sri Lanka’s bowling charge.
The highest ranked bowler in action on Sunday would be Bangladesh’s ninth-ranked Abdur Razzak.
The bowlers’ table is headed by West Indies spinner Sunil Narine with Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal in second place.
Upcoming fixtures
Sri Lanka v Bangladesh
31 Mar-One-off T20I, Pallekele (D/N)
Reliance ICC T20I Championship (as on 29 March)
Rank Team Rating
1 Sri Lanka 131
2 West Indies 126
3 India 119
4 Pakistan 119
5 England 118
6 South Africa 114
7 Australia 102
8 New Zealand 98
9 Bangladesh 84
10 Ireland 82
11 Zimbabwe 41
Not ranked as fewer than eight T20I matches played since August 2010
Afghanistan 88
Netherlands 73
Scotland 52
Kenya 14
Canada 7
Reliance ICC T20I Rankings (as on 29 March)
Batsmen
Rank Player Team Pts Ave S/R HS Ranking
1 B McCullum NZ 810 34.88 134 849 v Ban at Pallekele 2012
2= M Jayawardena SL 768 33.15 133 785 v Aus at Pallekele 2011
Martin Guptill NZ 768 35.39 124 793 v SA at Hamilton 2012
4 Alex Hales Eng 755*! 37.42 134 755 v NZ at Wellington 2013
5 Shane Watson Aus 752 30.62 148 832 v SA at Colombo (RPS) 2012
6 David Warner Aus 745 28.71 139 826 v WI at St Lucia 2010
7 Chris Gayle WI 744 35.46 144 831 v Aus at Colombo (RPS) 2012
8 Virat Kohli Ind 731*! 34.87 130 731 v Pak at Ahmedabad 2012
9 Suresh Raina Ind 719 33.60 136 776 v Eng at Kolkata 2011
10 Eoin Morgan Eng 708 36.29 132 872 v Ind at Old Trafford 2011
11 Marlon Samuels WI 680* 32.44 137 723 v Ban at Mirpur 2012
12 T Dilshan SL 667 28.00 121 802 v NZ at Colombo (RPS) 2009
13 K Sangakkara SL 651 30.00 121 763 v WI at Barbados 2010
14 Yuvraj Singh Ind 648 30.42 149 793 v SA at St Lucia 2010
15 H Masakadza Zim 647 28.13 115 652 v SL at Hambantota 2012
16 M Hafeez Pak 643! 24.70 117 643 v SA at Centurion 2013
17 JP Duminy SA 616 32.82 122 694 v Eng at Durham 2012
18 G Gambhir Ind 601 27.41 119 723 v SL at Mohali 2009
19 Umar Akmal Pak 591 26.48 118 709 v Zim at Harare 2011
20 Jacques Kallis SA 576 35.05 119 738 v Eng at Durham 2012
Bowlers
Rank Player Team Pts Ave Econ HS Ranking
1 Sunil Narine WI 778*! 17.60 5.89 778 v Zim at Antigua 2013
2 Saeed Ajmal Pak 742 16.59 6.26 788 v NZ at Pallekele 2012
3 Ajantha Mendis SL 731 11.48 5.84 762 v WI at Colombo (RPS) 2012
4 Graeme Swann Eng 678 16.84 6.36 760 v Pak at Cardiff 2010
5 N Kulasekara SL 676! 25.03 7.20 676 v Aus at Melbourne 2013
6 Steven Finn Eng 657*! 17.91 6.86 657 v NZ at Wellington 2013
7 N McCullum NZ 652 21.09 6.74 709 v Zim at Harare 2011
8 Stuart Broad Eng 650 21.90 7.37 672 v Pak at Cardiff 2010
9 Abdur Razzak Ban 644 17.94 6.82 661 v Ire at Belfast 2012
10 M Hafeez Pak 642 22.14 6.77 662 v Eng at Dubai 2012
11 Shahid Afridi Pak 641 21.76 6.32 814 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2009
12 Lasith Malinga SL 629 22.29 7.43 680 v Eng at Bristol 2011
13= A Mathews SL 626 26.09 6.58 639 v NZ at Pallekele 2012
Shane Watson Aus 626 20.42 7.19 671 v Pak at Colombo (RPS) 2012
15= S Hasan Ban 625 22.70 6.88 658 v Ire at Belfast 2012
Dale Steyn SA 625 16.64 6.30 688 v WI at Antigua 2010
17 Johan Botha SA 622 22.24 6.37 733 v NZ at Auckland 2012
18 Umar Gul Pak 621 16.44 6.95 857 v Ire at The Oval 2009
19 R Ashwin Ind 618! 37.85 7.48 618 v Pak at Ahmedabad 2012
20 Prosper Utseya Zim 614 30.47 6.65 615 v SL at Hambantota 2012
All-rounders
Rank Player Team Pts HS Ranking
1 Shane Watson Aus 471 557 v SA at Colombo (RPS) 2012
2 M Hafeez Pak 413! 413 v SA at Centurion 2013
3 Yuvraj Singh Ind 337/*! 337 v Pak at Ahmedabad 2012
4 Shahid Afridi Pak 286 413 v NZ at Dubai 2009
5 Chris Gayle WI 270/* 301 v Ban at Mirpur 2012
