Created by Ajay Kumar
Last edited September 19, 2023


Template:Infobox cricket rankings

The ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings is an international Twenty20 cricket rankings system of the International Cricket Council.[1] After every T20I match, the two teams involved receive points based on a mathematical formula. The total of each team's points total is divided by the total number of matches to give a rating, and all teams are ranked on a table in order of rating.[2] Teams need to have played at least six T20I matches in the previous three to four years to remain in the rankings table.[3]

India currently leads the ICC men's T20I team rankings, a position they have held since 21 February 2022.[4]

Current rankings

Template:ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings

Points calculations

Time period

Template:ICC rankings time period

Find the points earned from a match

Each time two teams play another match, the rankings table is updated as follows, based on the ratings of the teams immediately before they played. To determine the teams' new ratings after a particular match, first calculate the points earned from the match:

If the gap between the ratings of the two teams before the match was less than 40 points, then points will be as follows:

Match result Points earned
Win Opponent's rating + 50
Tie Opponent's rating
Lose Opponent's rating − 50

If the gap between the ratings of the two teams before the match was at least 40 points, then points will be as follows:

Match result Points earned
Stronger team wins Own rating + 10
Weaker team loses Own rating − 10
Stronger team ties Own rating − 40
Weaker team ties Own rating + 40
Stronger team loses Own rating − 90
Weaker team wins Own rating + 90

Example

Suppose Team A, with an initial rating of 100, plays Team B. The table shows the points awarded to the two teams for 9 different initial ratings for B (ranging from 20 to 160), and the three possible match results.

Initial ratings Scenario Team A wins & Team B loses.
Points earned:
Match tied.
Points earned:
Team A loses & Team B wins. Points earned: Total initial ratings Total points earned (All 3 results)
Team A Team B Team A Team B Team A Team B Team A Team B
100 20 Initial ratings at least 40 points apart Stronger team wins: Own rating + 10 110 Weaker team loses: Own rating − 10 10 Stronger team ties: Own rating − 40 60 Weaker team ties: Own rating + 40 60 Stronger team loses: Own rating − 90 10 Weaker team wins: Own rating + 90 110 120 120
100 40 110 30 60 80 10 130 140 140
100 60 110 50 60 100 10 150 160 160
100 70 Initial ratings less than 40 points apart Win: Opponent's rating + 50 120 Lose: Opponent's rating − 50 50 Tie: Opponent's rating 70 Tie: Opponent's rating 100 Lose: Opponent's rating − 50 20 Win: Opponent's rating + 50 150 170 170
100 90 140 50 90 100 40 150 190 190
100 110 160 50 110 100 60 150 210 210
100 130 180 50 130 100 80 150 230 230
100 140 Initial ratings at least 40 points apart Weaker team wins: Own rating + 90 190 Stronger team loses: Own rating − 90 50 Weaker team ties: Own rating + 40 140 Stronger team ties: Own rating − 40 100 Weaker team loses: Own rating − 10 90 Stronger team wins: Own rating + 10 150 240 240
100 160 190 70 140 120 90 170 260 260

This illustrates that:

  • The winning team earns more points than the losing team. (Unless the ratings are more than 180 apart and the weaker team wins − highly unlikely.)
  • Winning always earns a team 100 points more than losing, and 50 more than tying.
  • The total points earned by the two teams is always the same as the total initial ratings of the two teams.
  • The points earned by a winning team increases as the initial rating (quality) of the opposition increases, within the constraints of earning at least its own initial rating + 10, and no more than its own initial rating + 90. A winning team therefore always earns more points than its initial rating, increasing its overall average rating.
  • The points earned by a losing team increases as the initial rating (quality) of the opposition increases, within the constraints of earning at least its own initial rating − 90, and no more than its own initial rating − 10. A losing team therefore always earns fewer points than its initial rating, decreasing its overall average rating.
  • In a tie, the weaker team usually earns more points than the stronger team (unless the initial ratings are at least 80 apart), reflecting the fact that a tie is a better result for the weaker team than the stronger team. Also, the stronger team will earn fewer points than its initial rating, decreasing its average, and the weaker team more points that its initial rating, increasing its average.
  • For a given result, the rule of how the two teams' points are calculated changes as the initial ratings change, from being based on teams' own ratings when one team is far stronger, to being based on the opponent's ratings when the teams are closely matched, back to being based on own ratings when the other team is far stronger. However, despite these sudden changes in the rule, the number of points awarded for each result changes smoothly as the initial ratings change.

Find the new ratings

  • Each team's rating is equal to its total points scored divided by the total matches played. (Series are not significant in these calculations).
  • Add the match points scored to the points already scored (in previous matches as reflected by the table), add one to the number of matches played, and determine the new rating.
  • Points earned by teams depend on the opponent's ratings, therefore this system needed to assign base ratings to teams when it started.

Historical rankings

This table lists the teams that have historically held the highest rating since the T20I rankings was introduced.Template:Citation needed In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full T20I status to all its members. As a result, ratings of leading teams since 2018 have been considerably higher, and cannot be directly compared to those before that date.

Country Start End Duration Cumulative Highest Rating
Template:Cr 24 October 2011[5] 7 August 2012 [6] Template:Sort Template:Sort 140
Template:Cr 8 August 2012 11 September 2012 Template:Sort Template:Sort 137
Template:Cr 12 September 2012 21 September 2012 Template:Sort Template:Sort 130
Template:Cr 22 September 2012 28 September 2012 Template:Sort Template:Sort 134
Template:Cr 29 September 2012 27 March 2014 Template:Sort Template:Sort 134
Template:Cr 28 March 2014 2 April 2014 Template:Sort Template:Sort 130
Template:Cr 3 April 2014 3 April 2014 Template:Sort Template:Sort 131
Template:Cr 4 April 2014 5 April 2014 Template:Sort Template:Sort 132
Template:Cr 6 April 2014 30 April 2014 Template:Sort Template:Sort 133
Template:Cr 1 May 2014 6 September 2014 Template:Sort Template:Sort 131
Template:Cr 7 September 2014 9 January 2016 Template:Sort Template:Sort 135
Template:Cr 10 January 2016 30 January 2016 Template:Sort Template:Sort 118
Template:Cr 31 January 2016 8 February 2016 Template:Sort Template:Sort 120
Template:Cr 9 February 2016 11 February 2016 Template:Sort Template:Sort 121
Template:Cr 12 February 2016 3 May 2016 Template:Sort Template:Sort 127
Template:Cr 4 May 2016 31 October 2017 Template:Sort Template:Sort 132
Template:Cr 1 November 2017 3 November 2017 Template:Sort Template:Sort 124
Template:Cr 4 November 2017 6 November 2017 Template:Sort Template:Sort 124
Template:Cr 7 November 2017 2 January 2018 Template:Sort Template:Sort 124
Template:Cr 3 January 2018 27 January 2018 Template:Sort Template:Sort 128
Template:Cr 28 January 2018 30 April 2020 Template:Sort Template:Sort 286
Template:Cr 1 May 2020 5 September 2020 Template:Sort Template:Sort 278
Template:Cr 6 September 2020 7 September 2020 Template:Sort Template:Sort 273
Template:Cr 8 September 2020 30 November 2020 Template:Sort Template:Sort 275
Template:Cr 1 December 2020 20 February 2022 Template:Sort Template:Sort 278
Template:Cr 21 February 2022 Present Template:Age in days days 270
Last updated 23 August 2023

The summary of teams that have held the highest rating by days, are:

Team Total Days Highest Rating
Template:Cr 1064 135
Template:Cr 884 286
Template:Cr 776 270
Template:Cr 748 278
Template:Cr 574 132
Template:Cr 212 278
Template:Cr 42 137
Template:Cr 21 118

See also

References

Template:Sport world rankings