India beat Zimbabwe 3-0 in the T20I series to reclaim the top spot on the ICC team rankings.
India reclaim top spot after 3-0 sweep against Zimbabwe
After six consecutive defeats in decided T20Is, defending world champions India had conceded the top spot in the men’s T20I rankings to England. However, a 3-0 sweep in Zimbabwe put them right back on the top of the table: in fact, they had secured the top spot after the second of three games. Zimbabwe, meanwhile, remained at 12th place.
India had come to the series with nearly each of their frontline batters but a very inexperienced bowling attack. Naturally, all eyes were on the bowlers. Returning after an injury layoff, Mayank Yadav claimed 2-18, while Prince Yadav had 2-19. Ravi Bishnoi, too, shrugged off the horrors of England to take 1-24 in four overs as Zimbabwe crawled to 125-7. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (50 in 19 balls) then became the youngest man to score an international half-century as India won easily.
In the second T20I, Ishan Kishan (81 in 44) and Tilak Varma (60 not out in 29) pushed India to 219-5. This time Abhishek Sharma claimed 3-17, and the hosts folded for 129.
Sooryavanshi came to the forefront again in the third game, this time amassing a 49-ball 81 to take India to 192-5. In response, only Ryan Burl (54 not out in 43) put up any resistance as Zimbabwe finished on 157-7. Mayank returned 3-29.
Latest ICC men’s T20I team rankings after India beat Zimbabwe
| Position | Team | Matches | Points | Rating |
| 1 | India | 61 | 16366 | 268 |
| 2 | England | 38 | 10186 | 268 |
| 3 | Australia | 38 | 9868 | 260 |
| 4 | New Zealand | 50 | 12348 | 247 |
| 5 | South Africa | 48 | 11717 | 244 |
| 6 | Pakistan | 57 | 13679 | 240 |
| 7 | West Indies | 56 | 13079 | 234 |
| 8 | Bangladesh | 53 | 11860 | 224 |
| 9 | Sri Lanka | 44 | 9703 | 221 |
| 10 | Afghanistan | 36 | 7935 | 200 |
| 11 | Ireland | 29 | 5942 | 205 |
| 12 | Zimbabwe | 54 | 10875 | 201 |
| 13 | USA | 20 | 3650 | 183 |
| 14 | Netherlands | 24 | 4311 | 180 |
| 15 | Nepal | 43 | 7699 | 179 |
| 16 | Scotland | 23 | 4116 | 179 |
| 17 | Namibia | 37 | 6616 | 179 |
| 18 | United Arab Emirates | 54 | 9408 | 174 |
| 19 | Oman | 43 | 6619 | 154 |
| 20 | Canada | 26 | 3864 | 149 |
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