The new ICC Annual Rankings 2026 were updated in the first week of May. Australia and India have dominated both the Men’s and Women’s team rankings.
Australia remains the No. 1 in Tests and dominates both women’s white-ball cricket, while India remains the leader in Men’s One Day cricket and T20 Internationals. The latest rankings rate all matches played since May 2025 at 100 per cent and those of the previous two years at 50 per cent.
Not many changes were made across both Men’s and Women’s Rankings. But in certain cases, the gap of rating points will play a crucial role, especially for the Men’s ODI teams, where the direct qualification will come into play for the 2027 Men’s ODI World Cup.
Also Read: Pakistan falls to 8th in T20Is after new ICC Annual Rankings 2025
ICC Annual Rankings 2026 update
Men’s Rankings
| Test | ODIs | T20Is | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Teams | Ratings | # | Teams | Ratings | # | Teams | Ratings |
| 1 | Australia | 131 | 1 | India | 118 | 1 | India | 275 |
| 2 | South Africa | 119 | 2 | New Zealand | 113 | 2 | England | 262 |
| 3 | India | 104 | 3 | Australia | 109 | 3 | Australia | 258 |
| 4 | England | 102 | 4 | South Africa | 102 | 4 | New Zealand | 247 |
| 5 | New Zealand | 101 | 5 | Pakistan | 98 | 5 | South Africa | 244 |
| 6 | Pakistan | 89 | 6 | Sri Lanka | 96 | 6 | Pakistan | 240 |
| 7 | Sri Lanka | 86 | 7 | Afghanistan | 93 | 7 | West Indies | 233 |
| 8 | West Indies | 68 | 8 | England | 89 | 8 | Bangladesh | 225 |
| 9 | Bangladesh | 67 | 9 | Bangladesh | 84 | 9 | Sri Lanka | 221 |
| 10 | Zimbabwe | 10 | 10 | West Indies | 74 | 10 | Afghanistan | 220 |
Women’s Rankings
| ODI | T20Is | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Teams | Ratings | # | Teams | Ratings |
| 1 | Australia | 163 | 1 | Australia | 287 |
| 2 | England | 128 | 2 | England | 275 |
| 3 | India | 124 | 3 | India | 264 |
| 4 | South Africa | 100 | 4 | New Zealand | 253 |
| 5 | New Zealand | 93 | 5 | South Africa | 243 |
| 6 | Sri Lanka | 89 | 6 | West Indies | 238 |
| 7 | Bangladesh | 73 | 7 | Sri Lanka | 237 |
| 8 | Pakistan | 72 | 8 | Pakistan | 216 |
| 9 | West Indies | 71 | 9 | Ireland | 200 |
| 10 | Ireland | 50 | 10 | Bangladesh | 199 |
Test
The top two Test teams, Australia and South Africa, have a clear gap from the third-ranked team onward. Australia, the winners of the World Test Championship in 2023, made their case much clearer in the traditional format. They have played six Test series since and have yet to lose. They have lost only three games out of 19 they played. Their incredible run saw them take a gap of 12 rating points over the next best.
Even South Africa had a fruitful run, including their historic victory at Lord’s in 2025, winning their first WTC Title. Since their home season in 2024, they have also yet to lose a Test series. Apart from their WTC win, their most historic overseas series win came in India, where they white-washed the hosts 2-0.
Other than that, there haven’t been many changes in the rest of the rankings.
Also Read: Complete WTC 2025-27 Schedule – Who are Pakistan playing this time?
One Day Internationals
Men’s –
Not much changed following the annual updates, with South Africa and Sri Lanka swapping rankings along with the West Indies and Bangladesh. India continues to dominate the ODI rankings, which was supported by their Champions Trophy 2025 triumph last year.
There will be a fight among the lower-ranked sides. The 2027 Men’s ODI World Cup will be coming soon, and the direct qualification cut-off is on March 31, where the top eight teams + hosts (South Africa and Zimbabwe) will get automatic qualification and the final four teams will battle in the World Cup Qualifiers.
Womens –
India’s historical win in the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup earned them massive rating points. They are currently four rating points behind England. But Australia continues their dominance in the rankings. They were the semi-finalists in the tournament, but otherwise, it has been a good run in the season.
Runners-up South Africa have also bridged the gap between them and the next team, getting 100 points. The rest of the rankings are more-or-less the same with minor changes happening over the course, in particular Bangladesh, Pakistan and the West Indies.
T20 Internationals
Mens –
India’s golden run continues, to carry on especially after winning the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup. That victory saw India become the first team to win a title as host nations, defend the title and win the most titles of the competition. Under Suryakumar Yadav taking over following India’s triumph in the same competition in 2024, India have yet to lose a T20I series. This also includes the 2025 Asia Cup, where they defeated Pakistan in the final.
There were losses for the West Indies and Sri Lanka. The West Indies slotted to fifth spot in last year’s annual update, but slipped down to number seven. Semi-finalists of the 2026 T20 WC, South Africa and England, gained points and moved up in the rankings.
Womens –
There were no changes in the Women’s T20I rankings at all following last year’s annual update till this one. Rating points changed. New Zealand, who won their first-ever Women’s T20 World Cup in the UAE in 2024 over South Africa, have created a bridge between them and the next side. In fact, the top five sides have a bridge in between them as compared to the bottom sides.
Pakistan’s New ICC Annual Rankings 2026
Pakistan has had a disappointing run in 2025 across both Tests and ODIs as compared to T20Is. From the update onwards, the T20Is have got better. However, the longer formats were disappointing.
Pakistan played just one Test series in between the two updates; a drawn series against South Africa at home. Although by the time this article was written, Pakistan had lost the first Test match against Bangladesh and had been docked eight points, that has dented their run for the top two.
The one-day cricket was more disappointing, at least until the removal of Mohammad Rizwan’s captaincy. Pakistan just won two matches in 2025. Post Champions Trophy, they lost to New Zealand 3-0 and, for the first time in 31 years, to West Indies 2-1. This resulted in PCB changing the ODI leadership and replacing Rizwan and Shaheen Afridi.
Also Read: Leadership Drama Unfolds as Shaheen Afridi Replaces Rizwan as Pakistan’s new ODI captain
Under Shaheen, Pakistan have played three ODI series and won two. They defeated South Africa (2-1) and Sri Lanka (3-0) at home but lost to Bangladesh (2-1) away. As a result, Pakistan have swapped their places with South Africa and are now at No.5 in the ODI Rankings.
The highs and lows of T20I cricket
Their T20I cricket has improved in the past 12 months. They defeated Bangladesh 3-0 at home but lost 2-1 away. Though they won the tri-series involving the UAE and Afghanistan and shortly played the final of the 2025 Asia Cup. They lost the final to their arch-rivals, India. They later won the tri-series at home involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe before whitewashing Australia just shortly before the T20 World Cup.
While they qualified for the Super 8s, they struggled to maintain consistency in the match against better sides. England defeated them in a crucial encounter and forced Pakistan to win a game against Sri Lanka with a bigger margin. Pakistan’s death bowling has been a concern, which was evident throughout the event against top sides. They won ever-so-close against Sri Lanka, ending their campaign in the second round.
Following this run, Pakistan were swapped back to No.6 in the T20I rankings.
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