Pakistan Climb to 4th in ICC ODI Rankings After England Win

Pakistan have climbed to fourth place in the ICC Men's ODI team rankings, overtaking Australia, after a perfect start to the home ODI tri-series. The latest ICC update, published on October 21, 2026, puts Pakistan on 103 rating points — ahead of Australia and just one point behind third-placed South Africa. It is the surest sign yet that Pakistan's 50-over revival under Shaheen Shah Afridi is gathering real momentum.

The climb follows two commanding victories at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium: an opening 37-run win over Sri Lanka and Tuesday's emphatic 87-run demolition of England, in which 21-year-old all-rounder Arafat Minhas produced one of the great all-round performances in Pakistan's ODI history.

The new ICC ODI top five

The latest standings, confirmed by multiple outlets on October 21, look like this:

Rank	Team	Rating points
1	India	115
2	New Zealand	109
3	South Africa	104
4	Pakistan	103
5	Australia	102

India remain comfortably at the summit with 115 points, followed by New Zealand on 109. But the chasing pack has tightened dramatically: Pakistan (103) sit within touching distance of South Africa (104), while Australia have slipped to fifth on 102 after being overtaken.

Two wins, two statements

Pakistan's rise has been built on back-to-back wins in the tri-series at Rawalpindi, and both followed the same template: runs on the board, then spin and seam doing the rest.

The campaign began with a 37-run victory over Sri Lanka, as Pakistan's total of 305-plus proved too much and the visitors were bowled out for 268 in the chase. Then came Tuesday's headline act. Batting first after Harry Brook won the toss and chose to bowl, Pakistan recovered from 81 for 4 to post 302 for 9 — built on Hasan Nawaz's 79 off 74 balls, Arafat Minhas's 59 off 58 (his maiden international half-century), a brisk 39 off 26 from Faheem Ashraf, and 35 from Saad Baig. England conceded 80 runs from the final eight overs as Pakistan finished with a flourish.

Chasing 303, England started briskly through Tom Banton (57) and Ben Duckett (45) before collapsing to 215 all out in 38.4 overs. For the full story of that night at Rawalpindi, read our Pakistan beat England by 87 runs: Minhas magic match report.

Minhas announces himself

The story of Pakistan's week is the emergence of Arafat Minhas. The 21-year-old left-arm spinning all-rounder walked in at 81 for 4 against England, counter-attacked for a maiden ODI fifty, then produced career-best figures of 6 for 40 to rip through England's middle order — including the key wickets of Harry Brook and Joe Root — and was rightly named Player of the Match.

His stands were the backbone of the innings: a 78-run partnership with Hasan Nawaz to drag Pakistan out of trouble, and a 72-run stand with Faheem Ashraf that powered the late surge. With the ball, he struck in clusters, took two wickets in successive deliveries, and even ran out Gus Atkinson to complete a remarkable all-round display.

England captain Brook, no stranger to identifying talent, called him the most outstanding player of the match. For a side rebuilding its ODI identity, a 21-year-old delivering 59 off 58 and 6 for 40 in the same game is the kind of breakthrough that changes a team's ceiling.

One point off third — the road ahead

The most striking detail in the new table is how close Pakistan are to third. South Africa sit on 104 points — just one ahead of Pakistan's 103. In the ICC system, every ODI result moves the needle, and Pakistan's unbeaten run in this tri-series is exactly the kind of sequence that accelerates a climb.

The immediate schedule could hardly be better for that push. Pakistan top the tri-series table with two wins from two, and the tournament still has four group games plus the final to come:

• October 22: Sri Lanka vs England, Rawalpindi (both sides are winless — read our preview)
• October 25: Pakistan vs England, Lahore — the pink-kits Breast Cancer Awareness game
• October 27: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, Lahore
• October 29: Sri Lanka vs England, Lahore
• October 31: Final, Lahore

If Pakistan keep winning — particularly against England, who sit below them in the pecking order of this tournament — a move past South Africa into third is firmly on the cards before the series ends.

Why this matters for Pakistan

Rankings do not win trophies, but they tell a story about trajectory — and Pakistan's trajectory is sharply upward. This is a young side, led by a fast-bowling captain in Shaheen Shah Afridi, playing an aggressive brand of ODI cricket at home and finding new match-winners like Minhas and Hasan Nawaz along the way.

There is also the psychological angle. Australia, the team Pakistan have just passed, are a benchmark side in ODI cricket; moving above them validates the rebuild. And with India (115) and New Zealand (109) out in front, the gap is no longer an abyss — it is a target.

The Rawalpindi leg of the tri-series ends on Thursday with Sri Lanka vs England, a game that decides who Pakistan's rivals for the final will be. Then the caravan moves to Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium, where Pakistan will wear pink against England on October 25 in one of the most photographed fixtures of the year.

For now, though, Pakistan can savour this: two wins from two, a new teenage-age star, and a place in the world's top four. The next stop is third.

Sources: Geo Super, The News (Pakistan), Pediastan — ICC ODI rankings update, October 21, 2026; score details via Geo Super/The News match reports.