DUBAI: Pakistan has climbed to sixth position in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) Test rankings following an annual update released on Friday.
Australia sit at the top of the rankings with an overall total of 131 points, followed by South Africa — the current World Test Champions stay in second place with 119 points.
India rose to third with 104 points, moving ahead of England, which dropped to fourth with 102 points.
England’s decline follows the exclusion of matches played before 30 April 2023 from the weighted calculation. This includes significant home series victories against New Zealand and South Africa, as well as a 3-0 away series win in Pakistan.
The Blackcaps are currently in fifth place, while Pakistan Test ranking has improved to sixth with a rating of 89 points, surpassing Sri Lanka, which has 86 points in the latest update.
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The change occurs after England’s 3-0 series victory over Pakistan, which falls outside the full-weightage period, and also following the halving of Pakistan’s 2-0 series defeat against Bangladesh in 2024.
The West Indies, Bangladesh, and Ireland are in eighth, ninth, and 10th position, respectively.
For the unversed, Shan Masood-led Pakistan Test team will travel to Bangladesh for a two-match Test series, which is part of the ongoing ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025–27 cycle.
The series will begin with the first Test at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka from May 8. The second Test is scheduled to take place at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium from May 1`6.
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