Dubai: The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side have retained their top spot in ICC rankings despite their semi-final exit from the recently-concluded World T20 at the hands of West Indies.
West Indies defeated India by seven wickets at Wankhede Stadium and later went on to win the World T20 title for the second time after beating England.
The victorious side have improved their numbers in the latest ICC Team Rankings moving up to 125 points, just one point behind the hosts in the second position.
After finishing as the second best side in the tournament, England are now fourth after swapping places with South Africa while New Zealand, which lost to Eoin Morgan’side in the first semi-final in Delhi, have retained its third place at 120 points.
In the ICC Player Rankings for T20I Batsmen, India’s Virat Kohli has comfortably defended his number-one position. India’s batting mainstay, who was adjudged player of the tournament leads Australia’s second-ranked Aaron Finch by 86 points. He had entered the home competition leading Aaron Finch by 24 points.
England’s Joe Root, who finished as the third leading run-getter behind Tamim Iqbal and Kohli with 249 runs, has broken into the top five for the first time in his career. Root scored 27 not out in the semi-final and 54 in the final, for which he has been rewarded with a jump seven places that has now put him in fourth position.
Marlon Samuels, who won the player of the final award, has also returned to the top 20 in 18th position. The top-order batsman scored eight in the semi-final and 85 not out in the final, which has helped him rise five places to share the position with South Africa’s Quinton de Kock.
England’s Jos Buttler is the other batsman inside the top 25 to improve his ranking. The wicketkeeper/batsman is now in 24th spot after moving up three places.
Batsmen outside the top 25 to head in the right direction include Lendl Simmons of the West Indies (32nd, up by 17 places), New Zealand’s Colin Munro (37th, up by 18 places), Johnson Charles of the West Indies (50th, up by 14 places) and England’s Jason Roy (62nd, up by 33 places).
Meanwhile ,in the ICC Player Ranking for T20I Bowlers, India’s pace duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Ashish Nehra have achieved career-best rankings.
Bumrah has vaulted six places to seventh, while Nehra has climbed five places and is now in 11th position.
West Indies’ Samuel Badree is the number-one ranked bowler and he leads fellow wrist-spinner Imran Tahir of South Africa by 50 points, while India ‘s Ravichandaran Ashwin is in third position, another 28 points behind.
Bowlers outside the top 25 to make an impact in the latest rankings include England’s Chris Jordon (30th, up by 19 places), Adil Rashid of England (51st, up by 29 places) and Andre Russell of the West Indies (58th, up by 18 places).
There is no change in the top five of the all-rounders’ list, which is headed by a retired Shane Watson. He is followed by Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh, Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi, Australia’s Glenn Maxwell and West Indies’ Marlon Samuels. (ANI)