KOLKATA: India has retained its pre-tournament top position in the latest ICC rankings at the end of the second round of the World T20, and an unbeaten New Zealand moved up two places to second.

Afghanistan and Pakistan remained stable at their pre-tournament slots of six and seven though a number of Inzamam ul Haq’s pupils have headed in an upward direction.

With this, four of the top five sides will feature in the semi-finals of the World T20 to be played in Delhi and Mumbai.

India will go head to head with third-ranked West Indies in Mumbai on Thursday, while in the first semi-final in Delhi on Wednesday, New Zealand will square-off against fifth-ranked England.

South Africa, ranked fourth, is out of the tournament.

India has retained its pre-tournament ranking as well as points, while the West Indies has gained two points to move to 120.

This means the two former champions, who each won three of their four second round matches, are now separated by seven points.

In contrast, New Zealand, which has been the only unbeaten side in the competition to date, has earned six points to rise to 122 and has moved up two places to second.

Its semi-final opponent and 2010 champion, England, has also collected three points and is now seven points behind on 115 after winning three of its four matches.

Kohli up at No. 1

Meanwhile, there has also been a reshuffling of the pack in the players’ rankings, India’s Virat Kohli reclaiming the number-one batting position.

Kohli, who averages 92 after scoring 184 runs in four World T20 matches at a strike-rate of over 132, entered the tournament 24 points behind Aaron Finch, but now leads the Australian by 68 points.

England’s Joe Root has rocketed 38 places to career-high 11th after scoring 168 runs in four matches at a strike-rate of 150. The Yorkshire man has gained 105 points in the tournament to date as he now has Zimbabwe’s eighth-ranked Hamilton Masakadza firmly within his sights.

Martin Guptill is New Zealand’s highest-ranked batsman after the opener has moved up two places to third following his contribution of 125 runs in three matches at a strike-rate of over 162.

West Indies’ flamboyant Chris Gayle has gained one place and is now ranked sixth after scoring 104 runs in two innings at a stunning strike-rate of 208.

Badree leads bowlers

In the bowlers’ table, West Indies’ Samuel Badree has returned to the top.

Badree has taken six wickets in four World T20 matches to date.

India’s Ravichandaran Ashwin has dropped from number-one spot to third after managing just four wickets in as many matches.

New Zealand’s Adam Milne and India’s trio of Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah and Ashish Nehra made impressive gains and are expected to improve in the final leg of the tournament.

Milne’s three wickets in three matches helped him go up six places to sixth while Jadeja (four wickets in four matches) moved up three places to seventh.

Shane Watson of Australia has signed off on his T20I career as the number-one ranked all-rounder, finishing at 10 in the batting charts (up three places) after scoring 96 runs, and taking five wickets.

Inzy’s boys sparkle

Afghanistan, which consistently produced solid performances and caused an upset defeating the West Indies, has seen a number of players move north in the rankings.

In the batting table, opener Mohammad Shahzad is now eighth (up by three places), while Asghar Stanikzai is at 47 (up by six places).

In the bowlers’ table, Mohammad Nabi is ninth (up by 11 places), Rashid Khan 11 (up by 68 places) and Hamza Hotak 18 (up by 22 places).