LAHORE: For Pakistan, their two Twenty20 series against Zimbabwe is a must-win in order to maintain its fifth position in the ICC rankings.

The series begins with the first match at the Gaddafi Stadium here on Friday with Zimbabwe, ranked 12th with 62 points, needing just one win to jump up a spot.

If Pakistan were to lose both games or if the series were to end in a 1-1 draw, they will fall to seventh place.

Pakistan are also facing the treat of missing out on the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy if they were to lose the three-match One-day International series against the Zimbabweans which follows the T20 rubber.

Pakistan are seventh in the ODI rankings and will fall to ninth if they lose to the Zimbabweans.

Only the top eight teams are eligible to participate in the Champions Trophy.

In the ICC rankings for T20 batsmen, Zimbabwe’s Hamilton Mazakadza is in 13th position but a couple of strong performances could potentially put him back inside the top 10.

Pakistan’s Ahmed Shehzad is in 15th place, trailing Mazakadza by 22 points but will be aiming to improve his ranking along with team-mates Umar Akmal and Mohammd Hafeez, who are 20th and 22nd respectively.

Amongst the bowlers, Prosper Utseya and Hafeez feature inside the top 20, in 13th and 15th respectively.

Pakistan, in Hafeez (second) and Shahid Afridi (third), boast two players inside the top three in the all-rounders’ category.

Elton Chigumbura, the Zimbabwean captain, is in 25th position, and so far he is the highest ranked all-rounder from his side.

T20 rankings (as on May 20):

1. Sri Lanka (135 ratings points); 2. India (124); 3. Australia (122); 4. West Indies (117); 5. Pakistan (113); 6. New Zealand (110); 7. South Africa (110); 8. England (100); 9. Bangladesh (77); 10. Afghanistan (62); 11. Netherlands (60); 12. Zimbabwe (51); 13. Scotland (44).

Published in Dawn, May 21th, 2015

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