How Did ICC Annual Rankings Affect India and Australia?

Dubai, May 5 (NationPress) India has successfully held onto its top rank in the ICC Men’s ODI and T20I standings, while Australia continues to lead the Test Team Rankings according to the annual updates released by the prestigious cricket governing body on Monday.

The newly published rankings, which account for every match played since May 2024 at a full 100% and those from the preceding two years at 50%, reveal a historic total of 100 teams listed in T20Is following this annual update. In ODIs, India has widened its lead from 12 to 15 points, now boasting a total of 124 rating points.

The highlight of India's recent success was their triumph in the 2025 ICC Men’s Champions Trophy, contributing to a fruitful year that included a convincing 3-0 home series victory against England, despite an earlier away defeat to Sri Lanka in August 2024.

New Zealand, as the Champions Trophy runners-up, has overtaken Australia to claim second place. Sri Lanka has made significant strides, rising two spots from sixth to fourth, surpassing both Pakistan and South Africa. Additionally, Afghanistan has outpaced England, and the West Indies have climbed above Bangladesh to secure ninth place.

In T20Is, India remains firmly at the top, though their lead over Australia has slightly decreased from 10 to 9 points. The past year featured their victory at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, alongside 3-0 series victories over Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, as well as wins against England, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

The top six teams remain unchanged, following England, New Zealand, two-time champions West Indies, and South Africa in that order. Sri Lanka has surpassed 2009 champions Pakistan to claim seventh, while Ireland has moved ahead of Zimbabwe into 11th.

The most notable increase in rating points belongs to Canada, which has jumped nine places to 19th, while Oman has suffered the largest drop with an eight-point decrease.

Bahamas (up eight places to 51st) and Estonia (up seven places to 61st) are the biggest gainers in this annual update, which considered 100 teams, all of which have played a minimum of eight T20Is over the last three years. At the inception of global rankings in 2019, only 80 teams were ranked.

In the Test rankings, Australia, after winning 2-0 against Sri Lanka and a 3-1 victory over India in their latest Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, continues to hold the top position with 126 rating points, although their margin has shrunk from 15 to 13 points.

England has surged to second place thanks to 2-1 series wins against both New Zealand and Sri Lanka, as well as a 3-0 victory over the West Indies. Their rating improvement has also been aided by the removal of their results from 2021-22 when they faced a series of defeats.

South Africa and India have each dropped one position to third and fourth, respectively, while the remaining rankings have remained stable with only 10 teams currently listed. For Ireland, one more Test is required in the upcoming year to achieve a ranking, while Afghanistan needs three more matches to enter the rankings.