Pakistan will aim to defend its number-two position in the ICC T20I Team Rankings when it goes head to head with England in a three-match series in Dubai starting on Thursday, 26 November.
In a battle between the 2009 and 2010 ICC World Twenty20 champions, Pakistan leads eighth-ranked England by 14 points. This means it must win the series to retain second position behind Sri Lanka, which will defend its ICC World Twenty20 title in India from 11 March to 3 April 2016.
If Pakistan wins the series 2-1, then both the sides will maintain their pre-series rankings and points. However, if the series result is reversed, then Pakistan will join the West Indies and Australia on 118 points, but drop to fourth when rankings are finalised. In contrast, England will leapfrog India and New Zealand into sixth position on 112 points.
England won their last International T20 against a top ranked team when they beat Australia by 5 runs in Cardiff at the end of this summer's Ashes tour and warmed up for the three-game series against Pakistan with a comprehensive 79 run win against UAE. Opener Jason Roy continuing his good form with the bat smashing 59 off 29 balls and if they continue their winning form from the ODI fixtures to secure the IT20 series 3-0, then the tourists will leap to fourth position in the rankings on 117 points, while Pakistan will drop to sixth position on 114 points.
Pakistan inflicted an equally accomplished hammering of Hong Kong in their warm up with 64 run victory, so if they can turn the tables on England and win all three matches, then Shahid Afridi's side will join Sri Lanka on 125 points but will still be ranked second by a fraction of a point. England, on the other side of the coin, will stay eighth but will slip to 102 points.
In the ICC Player Rankings for T20I Batsmen, England's Alex Hales will start off as the highest-ranked batsman from either side in third position. The 26-year-old Nottinghamshire batsman trails India's Virat Kohli in second place by four, and number-one ranked Aaron Finch by 13 points, and will be aiming for upward movement.
Captain Eoin Morgan (eighth) and the big hitting Jos Buttler (47th) are the other England batsmen to feature inside the top 50.
Pakistan has no batsman inside the top 10 but in Ahmed Shehzad (14th), Umar Akmal (16th), Mohammad Hafeez (24th) and Shahid Afridi (35th), it boasts four batsmen inside the top 50.
In the ICC Player Rankings for T20I Bowlers, England has no bowler inside the top 75, while Pakistan has four bowlers inside the top 75. These include Shahid Afridi (ninth), Sohail Tanvir (16th), Shoaib Malik (68th) and Mohammad Irfan (75th).
Sunil Narine leads the bowlers' table, which also includes his West Indies team-mate Samuel Badree in second spot and Sachithra Senanayake of Sri Lanka in third place.
Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh is on top of the all-rounders' category, but Pakistan's duo of Hafeez and Shahid are within striking distance. Second-ranked Hafeez trails Shakib by 47 points, while Shahid is another four points behind.
The next T20I player rankings will be released on 1 December.
Pakistan v England Forthcoming matches
26 Nov - 1st T20I, Dubai
27 Nov - 2nd T20I, Dubai
30 Nov - 3rd T20I, Sharjah
ICC T20I Team Rankings (as on 24 November, before Pakistan-England series)
Rank Team Points
1 Sri Lanka 125
2 Pakistan 121
3 West Indies 118
4 Australia 118
5 South Africa 115
6 India 110
7 New Zealand 108
8 England 107
9 Afghanistan 81
10 Bangladesh 69
11 Scotland 66
12 Netherlands 61
13 Hong Kong 61
14 Zimbabwe 53
15 Ireland 42
England will return to The SSE SWALEC in Cardiff next year for the Royal London One-Day Internationals against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Adult tickets start at £35 with further discounts in place for families and under 17s. Click
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