What's the story?

Inda and England have maintained their status quo as the leading ICC Test and ODI team of the year while Pakistan reclaimed their top spot in the T20I rankings, according to the rankings released by the ICC today.

The update comes after the results from the 2015-16 season were removed and outcomes from the succeeding two seasons- 2016-17 and 2017-18- were weighed at a hundred percent.

Test Rankings

Before the results of the 2015-16 season were purged, India's [116 points] lead over second-placed New Zealand was eight points but with outcomes against South Africa [3-0 in 2015] and Sri Lanka [2-1] no longer in the calculations, the lead has narrowed down to two points following New Zealand's impressive show in the past 12 months that saw them win a Test series against England [H], Sri Lanka [H] and Pakistan [Away].

The only change that has taken place as far as the top-5 is concerned is England have superseded Australia to take the fourth position while the former World Champions find themselves at the fifth spot with 98 points following the purging of their four series victories in the 2015-16 season. Other big gainers were the West Indies who have narrowed down their lead with Pakistan to two points after winning the Test series against England.

ODI Rankings

England has retained their numero uno spot in the latest ICC ODI rankings but the 2019 hosts' will have to win the one-off ODI against Ireland and then beat Pakistan by a margin of 3-2 or better to go into the next month's World Cup as the top-ranked ODI side in the world.

India, on the other end, retained the No.2 spot despite a 2-3 home series loss against the Aussies while South Africa has leapfrogged the Kiwis for the third spot and the West Indies, following a 2-2 draw against England last February have moved ahead of Sri Lanka to the seventh place.

T20I rankings

This was a major surprise. The ICC unveiled an extended ICC Twenty20 International team rankings table consisting of 80 teams. Last year, the ICC had given T20I status to all the ICC members and the ranking has been awarded to the sides' who have played at least six matches against the other ICC members.

The new list has Pakistan at the top spot with 286 points followed by South Africa [262]. The Proteas leapfrogged India to claim the second spot while the Men in Blue, courtesy back-to-back series defeats [1-2 vs NZ, 0-2 vs AUS] have slipped to the fifth position while England and Australia are tied at 261 points each.