India Retain No. 1 Spot In ICC T20I Rankings As Lead Over England Narrows

Three-time World Cup winners India on Tuesday retained the No. 1 position in the ICC T20I rankings , continuing their dominance in the shortest format of the game, according to the latest update released by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

India, who made history by becoming the first team to successfully defend the T20 World Cup title and secure a record-extending third crown in March while co-hosting the tournament with Sri Lanka, top the table with 275 rating points . However, their lead has slightly narrowed, with England (262 points) and Australia (258 points) placed second and third respectively.

The ICC said the rankings now give full weightage (100 per cent) to matches played since May 2025, while performances from the previous two years carry 50 per cent weightage.

“Sitting at 275 points, India see their lead over England trimmed,” the ICC noted, underlining the tightening competition at the top.

There is no change in the top seven positions , with New Zealand (247) , South Africa (244) , Pakistan (240) and West Indies (233) continuing in fourth to seventh places respectively.Among notable movements, Bangladesh (225) climbed to eighth position, while Sri Lanka (221) dropped to ninth after losing six rating points. Afghanistan (220) remained close behind in tenth place.

Further down the rankings, the United States (13th) gained two places after adding six rating points, overtaking the Netherlands and Scotland, now ranked 14th and 15th respectively. Namibia (16th) remained unchanged, while Nepal (17th) and Oman (19th) moved up one place each, pushing UAE (18th) and Canada (20th) down the order.

The ICC also confirmed that the number of ranked teams has reduced from 102 to 98 , as Fiji, Gambia, Greece and Israel did not meet the requirement of playing at least eight T20Is in the past three years.