Nigeria’s men’s and women’s national cricket teams have retained their spots in the latest annual rankings released by the International Cricket Council on Tuesday, having met the required number of matches during the period under review, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
- +Cricket: Nigeria retain spots in ICC rankings
The annual update, which gives 100 per cent weighting to matches played since May 2025 and 50 per cent to those from the previous two years, saw India’s lead over England trimmed from 14 to 13 points in the men’s table, while Australia’s advantage over England in the women’s rankings reduced from 18 to 12 points.
The annual update, which gives 100 per cent weighting to matches played since May 2025 and 50 per cent to those from the previous two years, saw India’s lead over England trimmed from 14 to 13 points in the men’s table, while Australia’s advantage over England in the women’s rankings reduced from 18 to 12 points.
For Nigeria, the men’s team dropped two places from 36th to 38th, while the women’s team retained 26th position globally.
After competing in the sub-regional and regional T20 World Cup qualifiers, the West Africa Trophy and a seven-match bilateral series against Kenya, the men’s team—known as the Yellow Greens—accumulated 78 rating points, just one below their previous total of 79.
The women’s team also featured in the T20 World Cup qualifiers and the Kwibuka Invitational Tournament last year before winning the fifth Nigeria Cricket Federation Invitational tournament this year, maintaining their 26th-place ranking with an improved 79 points from their previous total of 76, a position they have held since their rapid rise in 2023.
In both categories, Nigeria are ranked seventh in Africa.
South Africa lead the continent in the men’s rankings, followed by Zimbabwe, Namibia, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, with Nigeria in seventh. In the women’s rankings, South Africa and Zimbabwe also occupy the top two spots, while Uganda rank ahead of Namibia, and Tanzania and Rwanda sit just above Nigeria.
Globally, India and Australia remain top of the ICC men’s and women’s T20I rankings, respectively, following the update.
India, who retained their title at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup held in India and Sri Lanka this year, are on 275 points, ahead of England (262) and Australia (258). The top seven positions remain unchanged, with New Zealand (247), South Africa (244), Pakistan (240) and West Indies (233) completing the leading group.
Sri Lanka dropped six rating points to fall below Bangladesh into ninth place, just one point ahead of Afghanistan, while the United States moved up to 13th after overtaking the Netherlands and Scotland. Nepal climbed to 17th ahead of the United Arab Emirates, and Oman moved to 19th, surpassing Canada.
Elsewhere, Italy gained 11 points to move from 26th to 23rd, Spain advanced from 30th to 26th with a 12-point gain, Cyprus rose from 64th to 53rd, and Eswatini climbed from 74th to 65th.
Mozambique recorded the biggest drop, falling 15 places to 87th after the update, which reduced the number of ranked teams from 102 to 98. Fiji, Gambia, Greece and Israel dropped out after failing to meet the minimum requirement of eight T20Is in the last three years.
In the women’s T20I rankings, the top 16 teams remain unchanged, with Australia leading on 287 points, followed by England (275) and India (264).
New Zealand (253), South Africa (243) and West Indies (238) occupy fourth to sixth positions, while Sri Lanka (237) remain seventh, just one point behind. Bangladesh also closed the gap to Ireland in ninth place after gaining five points.
The United States moved up from 22nd to 20th, while Germany climbed from 35th to 29th in the latest update, which now features 78 ranked teams.
Cambodia dropped out of the rankings and need four more matches to regain their status, while Peru are no longer ranked after failing to play any matches in the last three years.
