How are the ICC rankings calculated?:4 ducks in Asia Cup, yet Saim Ayub became World No. 1 All-Rounder; Abhishek crossed highest rating in history

Abhishek Sharma, who scored the most runs in the Asia Cup (314), has become the batter with the highest rating points in ICC T20 history. He is ranked No.1 with 926 points. Meanwhile, Pakistani player Saim Ayub, who was dismissed for zero four times in the Asia Cup, has also become the world’s No.1 all-rounder in ICC T20 rankings, dethroning Hardik Pandya. Despite being out for zero four times, how did Saim Ayub become No.1 all-rounder? How are ICC rankings decided? We explain today… Who is ranked where in the latest ICC T20 rankings? In the ICC’s latest ranking list released on 1 October, India is the world’s No.1 T20 team. Australia is second and England third. What is the ICC ranking and why is it released? The ICC issues lists for the best teams, best batters, best bowlers, and best all-rounders across the three formats of cricket – Test, ODI and T20. Men’s rankings across all three formats are updated every Wednesday, while women’s updated rankings are published every Tuesday. For Tests, rankings consider performance over 12–15 months; for ODIs and T20s, 9–12 months. However, more weight is given to recent matches. Each updated list includes all games played until the day before release. If a player does not play or a match is abandoned due to rain, their rating remains unaffected. If a team is dismissed for under 150, bowlers who did not bowl are not impacted, but if a team makes a big score, non-bowling bowlers from the opposition lose points. Retired players are removed, e.g. MS Dhoni was dropped from Test rankings after retiring in 2014, though he remained in ODI rankings. According to ICC, rankings allow selection of the best 11 players globally to form an “ICC XI”. Top 10 players in any format are seen as strongest contenders for their national sides. Three main reasons for weekly updates are: Team and player rankings are based on ratings, which are calculated from match performances. How are ICC rankings and points calculated? The ICC ranking process is not manual but algorithm-based. Different formulae exist for teams, batters, bowlers and all-rounders. Points are called “ratings”, which determine rankings. How team ratings are calculated The method is similar to the Elo system, considering wins, losses, and strength of opposition. Older matches carry less weight. Inactive teams are removed. Ratings change after every match. Beating a strong team yields more points than beating a weaker one. For example, if Team A’s rating is 200 and Team B’s is 300, A gains more points if it wins, while B gains fewer for the same win. Successive wins over strong teams rapidly increase ratings. ODIs award bonus points for strong series performances; T20s do not. How batter and bowler ratings are calculated Batters and bowlers are rated between 0–1000. Ratings depend on runs, wickets, strike rates, opposition quality, and match conditions. For instance: For bowlers, ratings depend on wickets taken, runs conceded, opposition strength and whether the match is high or low scoring. Example: conceding 50 runs and taking 3 wickets in a 400-run match yields more points than the same in a 250-run match. So how did Saim Ayub become No. 1 after four ducks? The ICC promoted Pakistan’s Saim Ayub to No.1 all-rounder, a jump of four places, using its all-rounder formula. This combines batting and bowling ratings, multiplies them, and divides by 1000. Saim Ayub earned 241 points, while Hardik Pandya got 233. In the Asia Cup, Saim scored only 37 runs with four ducks, while Hardik made 48 runs in four innings. Hardik took 4 wickets in 6 matches at 8.57 economy; Saim took 8 wickets at 6.40 economy, giving him a superior bowling rating. In 2025 so far, Saim has played 21 T20s, scoring 355 runs and taking 16 wickets. Hardik has played 9 matches, scoring fewer runs and taking 9 wickets. Ayub is not the first to top rankings despite modest runs. After the 2023 ODI World Cup, Babar Azam rose to No.1 batter with just 320 runs, ahead of Virat Kohli (765 runs) and Rohit Sharma (597 runs), due to the ICC algorithm. How did Abhishek Sharma achieve the highest points in history? Indian opener Abhishek Sharma tops T20 internationals with 926 points. On 26 September against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup, he scored 61 runs off 31 balls at a strike rate of 196.77, pushing his rating to 931. Currently, Phil Salt of England is second with 844 points. Reaching 900 typically secures top spot. Abhishek’s aggressive scoring is the main reason. Between 2024 and 2025, he has played 27 matches, scoring 896 runs at nearly 200 strike rate. Salt, by comparison, scored 755 runs in 25 matches at a 168 strike rate. Is the ICC rating system criticised? Yes. Many cricket experts argue cricket has too many variables – unlike chess – including pitch conditions and team situations. They say rankings should account for these, but ICC does not. The ICC responds that no one within ICC knows exactly how many points the algorithm awards in each case, and ratings are not subjectively analysed. Rankings are determined purely by statistics, making the process entirely impartial. Research: Shivendra Gaurav