KARACHI – The Pakistan cricket team has secured the number one position on the ICC ODI rankings for the first time since the introduction of ICC’s official team ranking system in 2005.
The development comes after Pakistan’s fourth consecutive victory against New Zealand at the National Stadium in Karachi on Friday. New Zealand are currently in Pakistan for a five-match ODI series and Pakistan are leading the series 4-0.
Before the series against New Zealand started, Pakistan were fifth on the ODI rankings with a rating of 106 and Kiwis were at second position before the ongoing ODI series.
Pakistani skipper Babar Azam and his men are now on top of the ODI teams chart with 113.483 rating points. Australia are occupying the second position with 113.286 rating points and India are at third position with 112.638 rating points. Pakistan will further cement their position if they win the fifth ODI and complete the series clean sweep against New Zealand.
Ever since the ICC introduced its official ODI ranking system in 2005, Pakistan’s previous best was 3rd position.
The method of ICC ranking was developed by renowned statistician David Kendix and it was applied retrospectively to know the teams’ position before the ranking was officially launched. According to the retrospective application of Kendix’s formula in historical position, Pakistan was last on top of ODI rankings in August 1991. However, that historical ranking stands no official status.
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PCB Management Committee Chairman Najam Sethi congratulated the Pakistan team for achieving the top spot on ICC ODI Team Rankings.