Bangladesh climbs to no.6 in ICC t-20 rankings

Bangladesh's exciting one-run win over Ireland on Friday, which gave them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, also catapulted them to No. 6 in the ICC Twenty20 rankings - this is the first time Bangladesh feature in the rankings. They are now ahead of New Zealand, India and West Indies, while Ireland, who were in ninth position, drop a place to tenth.


According to the ICC rules, only teams that have played at least eight Twenty20 internationals in the period starting August 1 2009 to date (the qualifying period changes every August) will get a ranking.
If Bangladesh manage to sweep the Ireland series 3-0 on Saturday, they will jump to No. 4 on the rankings.
Their elevated position is perhaps more than what captain Mushfiqur Rahim had hoped for ahead of Bangladesh's tour to Europe; he was eager, he said, to just break into the rankings. "We are still not good in the new format of the game. Due to lack of international matches we are not even in the ICC Twenty20 international rankings, while even Afghanistan occupies a spot in the rankings," Mushfiqur had told reporters before leaving Dhaka. "We have a chance to break into the table if we can win matches on this tour."
The win on Friday, which was by the shortest margin in the Twenty20 format, marked Bangladesh's 20th Twenty20 international.