Nepal have moved up to 17th in the latest ICC men's T20I team rankings after the annual update, overtaking the United Arab Emirates in one of the notable changes affecting Associate sides.
The update, released by the ICC on May 5, gives full weight to matches played since May 2025 and 50 percent weight to results from the previous two years. Nepal's rating rose from 175 to 178, enough to lift them one place from 18th to 17th. The UAE dropped from 17th to 18th after their rating slipped from 175 to 174.
For Nepal, the rise is a timely reward after a period in which they have remained competitive in the format and continued to push for stronger consistency against fellow Associate nations. Oman, another close regional rival, also moved up one place from 20th to 19th after a seven-point rating gain, while the United States climbed two spots to 13th.
The latest table still has India at the top on 275 points, ahead of England on 262 and Australia on 258. The top seven teams remained unchanged, while Bangladesh moved ahead of Sri Lanka into eighth.
On the women's side, Nepal remained 21st with an unchanged rating of 94. That means there was no movement for the women's team in position or points in the annual update. The USA, who recently won the inaugural ICC Women's T20I Challenge Trophy in Rwanda, climbed from 22nd to 20th, pushing Indonesia down one place to 22nd. Rwanda also moved up one spot to 24th.
Nepal Women's ranking staying flat comes soon after a strong Challenge Trophy campaign that saw them finish runners-up. While that event has helped maintain their standing, it was not enough in this update to move them above the teams immediately ahead.
The ICC said 98 teams are now ranked in men's T20Is and 78 in women's T20Is based on the requirement of having played at least eight matches over the past three years.
