Pakistan can rise to second in T20 rankings during England series

Three-match series begins in Manchester on Friday

Mohammad Rizwan of Pakistan, left, plays around with Shaheen Afridi during training ahead of the first T20 against England at Emirates Old Trafford. Getty

Pakistan T20 captain Babar Azam during training at Old Trafford on Thursday. Getty

Babar Azam during Pakistan's training ahead of the T20 series against England. Getty

Mohammad Hasnain of Pakistan during training in Manchester. Getty

Shaheen Afridi of Pakistan and Mohammad Amir at Emirates Old Trafford. Getty

Wahab Riaz trains with team on Thursday. Getty

Mohammad Amir shares a joke with Younis Khan, batting coach of Pakistan. Getty

Mohammad Amir of Pakistan during training in Manchester. Getty

Mohammad Amir of Pakistan shares a joke during training. Getty

Mohammad Rizwan of Pakistan with Shaheen Afridi in Manchester. Getty

Pakistan take on England in a three-match T20 series. Getty

Sarfaraz Ahmed of Pakistan at Emirates Old Trafford. Getty

Babar Azam with England captain Eoin Morgan. Getty

For a considerable period, Pakistan were the top-ranked T20 team in the world. However, four successive series defeats in 2019 saw them slip to fourth in the table.

Now they have an opportunity to regain some lost ground when Babar Azam's visitors play England in a three-match T20 series which begins at Old Trafford in Manchester on Friday.

If Pakistan manage to win the series 3-0, they will rise to second in the table with 267 points, still well behind top-ranked Australia who have 278, according to ICC's rankings predictor.

But it won't be easy, especially for Azam. The world's top-ranked T20 batsman featured throughout during Pakistan's 1-0 loss to England in a three-Test series which finished on Tuesday.

While none of England's Test side will feature on Friday, Azam will be out on the field again.

"It's really difficult to come from red-ball to white-ball," Azam was quoted as saying by AFP.

"We only got one day for practice, yesterday we had a little bit with the white ball. It's all in the mindset, we hope that we will come up with a good performance."

Pakistan, however, do have white-ball specialists in their tour squad, with the captain adding: "But T20 specific players have been practicing so the aim is to win the series.

"We will not take England lightly. They have good white-ball players."