India's 3-0 series sweep over West Indies at home over the past week has taken Rohit Sharma's side to No. 1 on the ICC T20I team rankings. India went past England to the top spot, with Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa rounding off the top five.
India's lead at the top, though, is a slender one. Across the 39-game period that is under consideration in the current ranking cycle, India and England are tied at 269 rating points. India are fractionally ahead by virtue of having more points (10,484 to England's 10,474).
The series ended at Kolkata's Eden Gardens - the venue for all three games - on Sunday, when India successfully defended a 180-plus total for the second game in a row. They had chased down 158 in the first T20I after a stellar debut for Ravi Bishnoi with the ball, while impressive efforts with the bat from Rishabh Pant, Virat Kohli, Venkatesh Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav did the job in the second and third games. Harshal Patel was another newcomer to international cricket who impressed, finishing as India's top wicket-taker with five strikes and, crucially, holding his nerve against an onslaught from Rovman Powell in the second game to seal victory for India.
Australia remained in sixth place after their 4-1 series win over Sri Lanka (tied ninth with Bangladesh) at home, while West Indies stayed at No. 7 despite the shutout against India, while Afghanistan were at eighth place.
India have the chance to extend their lead over England during the three-game T20I series against Sri Lanka later this month at home. England's next T20I assignment is against India in the summer.