Australia opener Aaron Finch became the first player in the history of Twenty20 Internationals to break the 900-point mark as he moved up three places to finish the tri-series in Harare against Pakistan and Zimbabwe as the top-ranked batsman in the shortest format of the game.
*Pakistan Opener Fakhar Zaman vaults 44 places to second in latest player rankings
*KL Rahul is now India’s highest-ranked batsman in third position; Zimbabwe’s Solomon Mire claims 25th spot after rocketing 202 places
*Bowlers Andrew Tye, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett, David Willey and Billy Stanlake break into the top-20 after achieving career-high rankings
*Australia and nine highest-ranked sides on the MRF Tyres ICC T20I Team Rankings as on 31 December 2018 will qualify directly for the ICC Men’s World T20 2020
Finch, who captained Australia to the final, had touched the 900-point mark following his record-breaking knock of 172 (76b, 10×6, 16×4) against Zimbabwe in Harare on 3 July. The 31-year-old from Victoria eventually finished the T20Is (also comprising a one-off against England at Edgbaston) in number-one position on 891 points.
Finch had started the T20Is in fourth position on 763 points and a tour aggregate of 391 runs not only helped him leapfrog Babar Azam, Colin Munro and Glen Maxwell, but also earned him 128 points.
In the latest player rankings, which also takes into account India’s 2-0 and 2-1 series win against Ireland and England, respectively, Finch leads Pakistan’s left-handed opener Fakhar Zaman by 45 points.
Like Finch, Fakhar was in stellar form in Harare, when he totaled 278 runs in the series, including a match-winning 91 against Australia after Pakistan had slumped to 2/2 after being set a victory target of 184.
Fakhar’s string of good scores, that also included knocks of 61, 6, 47 and 73, have helped him vault 44 places to claim second position. He has now become Pakistan’s highest-ranked batsman after Babar Azam slipped from first to fifth due to his absence because of an injury.
India’s KL Rahul’s scores of 70, 101*, 6 and 19 have made him India’s highest-ranked batsman after he moved up nine places to a career-high third position. Rohit Sharma in 11th rank (up by two places) and captain Virat Kohli in 12th rank (down by four places) are the next highest-ranked India batsmen.
Australia’s D’Arcy Short, Jason Roy of England and Solomon Mire have also achieved career-best rankings following the latest update.
Short has broken into the top 10 for the first time in his career and is in 10th position, moving up 18 places. Roy has gained 19 places and is now in 15th spot while Mire has rocketed 202 places to claim 25th position – seven places behind Hamilton Masakadza.
In the bowling table, Rashid Khan of Afghanistan and Shadab Khan of Pakistan have retained the top two positions, but there have been a number of movements down the order with Australia’s Andrew Tye and Billy Stanlake, and England’s trio of Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett and David Willey achieving career-high rankings.
Tye has risen 41 places to seventh in the latest rankings after taking 12 wickets in Harare, Rashid has claimed ninth position after moving up four places, Plunkett has gained 14 places and is now in 11th spot, Willey has risen 12 places to 15th and Stanlake’s seven wickets have given him a leap of 60 places that has put him in 19th position.
Other bowlers to head in the right direction include Mohammad Amir (12th, up by six places), Hardik Pandya (29th, up by five places), Mohammad Nawaz (32nd, up by nine places), Faheem Ashraf (33rd, up by 21 places), Kuldeep Yadav (34th, up by 41 places) and Ashton Agar (45th, up by 39 places).
Aaron Finch smashes records with 172 off 76
There is no change in the top three all-rounders, with Maxwell leading the field. Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi is second while Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh is third.
Meanwhile, in the MRF Tyres ICC T20I Team Rankings, Pakistan have retained the top position with their tri-series victory while India have overtaken Australia to take second place after clinching their three-match series against England 2-1. The top three sides are now separated by 10 points, while three points separate fourth-ranked England and seventh-ranked West Indies.
Team rankings remain crucial as Australia plus the next nine highest-ranked sides will qualify directly for the 16-team ICC Men’s World T20 2020 in Australia. The remaining six sides will qualify from the 14-team ICC Men’s World T20 Qualifier 2019, which will be participated in by the six sides from the ICC World T20 2016, which are not in the Top 10 of the MRF Tyres ICC T20I Team Rankings as on 31 December 2018, alongside the eight qualifiers from the regional finals.
MRF Tyres ICC T20I Team Rankings (as of 9 July):
| Rank | Team | Points |
| 1 | Pakistan | 132 (+1) |
| 2 | India | 124 (+1) |
| 3 | Australia | 122 (-4) |
| 4 | England | 117 (+2) |
| 5 | New Zealand | 116 |
| 6 | South Africa | 114 |
| 7 | Windies | 114 |
| 8 | Afghanistan | 91 |
| 9 | Sri Lanka | 85 |
| 10 | Bangladesh | 70 |
| 11 | Scotland | 62 |
| 12 | Zimbabwe | 56 |
| 13 | UAE | 51 |
| 14 | Netherlands | 50 |
| 15 | Hong Kong | 42 |
| 16 | Oman | 39 |
| 17 | Ireland | 35 (+1) |
* Nepal have 26 rating points but need to play one more match before being ranked
(Developed by David Kendix)
MRF Tyres ICC T20I Player Rankings (as of 9 July):
Batsmen (top 20)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge S/R Highest Rating
1 (+3) Aaron Finch Aus 891 45.60 162 900 v Zim at Harare 2018
2 (+44) Fakhar Zaman Pak 842! 30.76 144 842 v Aus at Harare 2018
3 (+9) Lokesh Rahul Ind 812 49.71 155 854 v Eng at Old Trafford 2018
4 (-2) Colin Munro NZ 801 33.51 164 805 v Pak at Wellington 2018
5 (-4) Babar Azam Pak 765 53.00 127 881 v Win at Karachi 2018
6 (-3) Glenn Maxwell Aus 761 32.94 163 801 v NZ at Auckland 2018
7 (-2) Evin Lewis Win 753* 37.57 160 780 v Eng at Durham 2017
8 (-2) Martin Guptill NZ 747 34.40 133 793 v SA at Hamilton 2012
9 (-2) Alex Hales Eng 710 32.67 136 866 v Ind at Edgbaston 2014
10 (+18) D’Arcy Short Aus 690*! 41.88 132 690 v Pak at Harare 2018
11 (+2) Rohit Sharma Ind 678 32.59 137 681 v Ban at Mirpur 2016
12 (-4) Virat Kohli Ind 671 48.88 136 897 v Eng at Edgbaston 2014
13 (-4) M. Shahzad Afg 659 31.76 135 706 v Ire at Greater Noida 2017
14 (-3) Hashim Amla SA 643 34.51 133 683 v Ban at Potchefstroom 2017
15 (+19) Jason Roy Eng 641! 21.74 142 641 v Ind at Bristol 2018
16 (-2) Kane Williamson NZ 634 31.33 121 760 v Ban at Napier 2017
17 (+9) Jos Buttler Eng 614! 27.10 138 614 v Ind at Bristol 2018
18 (-8) H. Masakadza Zim 610 27.66 117 699 v Ban at Khulna 2016
19 (-1) Kusal Perera SL 608 30.00 138 751 v SA at Chittagong 2014
20 (-4) Eoin Morgan Eng 596 28.71 132 872 v Ind at Old Trafford 2011
Bowlers (top 20)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Eco Highest Rating
1 ( – ) Rashid Khan Afg 813 13.01 5.93 816 v Ban at Dehradun 2018
2 ( – ) Shadab Khan Pak 723 18.00 6.72 769 v Sco at Edinburgh 2018
3 (+1) Ish Sodhi NZ 700 19.33 7.43 739 v Pak at Wellington 2018
4 (-1) Y. Chahal Ind 685 18.97 7.85 706 v Ban at Colombo (RPS) 2018
5 ( – ) Samuel Badree Win 674 19.78 6.05 855 v Pak at Mirpur 2014
6 ( – ) Mitchell Santner NZ 665 21.37 7.14 731 v Pak at Wellington 2018
7 (+41) Andrew Tye Aus 658! 20.89 8.70 658 v Pak at Harare 2018
8 (-1) Imran Tahir SA 650 15.85 6.80 795 v NZ at Auckland 2017
9 (+4) Adil Rashid Eng 639 28.82 7.68 640 v Ind at Cardiff 2018
10 (-2) Mohammad Nabi Afg 638! 24.20 7.09 638 v Ban at Dehradun 2018
11 (+14) Liam Plunkett Eng 628 25.04 7.81 644 v Ind at Cardiff 2018
12= (+6) Mohammad Amir Pak 609 19.98 6.83 700 v Aus at Edgbaston 2010
(-2) M. Rahman Ban 609 18.60 7.05 695 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2017
14 (-2) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 608 21.00 6.74 672 v Pak at Mirpur 2014
15 (+12) David Willey Eng 607 24.67 8.44 615 v Ind at Cardiff 2018
16 (-2) Trent Boult NZ 599 21.18 8.53 622 v Aus at Sydney 2018
17 (-2) Chris Jordan Eng 598 28.71 8.82 628 v Ind at Nagpur 2017
18 (-1) Sunil Narine Win 587 20.68 6.02 817 v Pak at St. Vincent 2013
19 (+60) Billy Stanlake Aus 570*! 23.43 8.33 570 v Pak at Harare 2018
20 (-1) George Dockrell Ire 569 18.89 6.65 668 v Zim at Sylhet 2014
All-rounders (top five)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Highest Rating
1 ( – ) Glenn Maxwell Aus 366 396 v Eng at Melbourne 2018
2 ( – ) M. Nabi Afg 321 323 v Ban at Dehradun 2018
3 ( – ) S. Al Hasan Ban 279 408 v Pak at Mirpur 2015
4 ( – ) JP Duminy SA 235 276 v Ban at Mirpur 2015
5 ( – ) Marlon Samuels Win 230 321 v SL at Mirpur 2014
