West Indies get major boost in rankings ahead of T20WC

Dubai: A thumping T20I series sweep over South Africa helped West Indies climb to the fourth place in the ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings.

In the leadup to the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, co-hosts West Indies took on South Africa at home, and have made substantial gains in the ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings on the back of a 3-0 series win.

West Indies overcame the absence of some key players to sweep the series 3-0.

With the series win, West Indies (254 rating points), the champions of the 2012 and 2016 editions of the T20 World Cup, are at the fourth place in the list led by 2007 champions India (264 rating points), with 2021 champions Australia (257 rating points) and defending champions England (254 rating points) at the second and third place respectively.

There were individual bright spots for West Indies in the series, who gained substantially in the T20I Player Rankings. This included stand-in skipper Brandon King, whose 159 runs helped him jump up five places to the eighth position in the Men’s T20I Batting Rankings, an ICC report said.

His opening partner, Johnson Charles, who hit a blistering 69 from 26 balls in a Player of the Match performance in the third game of the series, gained 17 spots to reach the 20th place.

Kyle Mayers (31st place in Batting Rankings) and Gudakesh Motie (27th place in Bowling Rankings) were the other beneficiaries from the recently concluded series.

These results bode well for the Men in Maroon, who will be looking for a record third title during their home T20 World Cup. They are placed in Group C along Afghanistan, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Uganda.

They start their campaign against Papua New Guinea in Guyana on June 2.