England have been confirmed as the number one team in Twenty20 cricket in the ICC's inaugural rankings for the game's shortest format.

England are the reigning World Twenty20 champions and have won 12 of their 20 matches since August 2009, with two of those games ending without a result. They have 127 points - one more than second-placed Sri Lanka, who are followed by New Zealand, South Africa, India and Australia.

Pakistan, who won the World Twenty20 in 2009, were ranked seventh followed by West Indies, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe, while Bangladesh are yet to qualify for a ranking as they have not played eight Twenty20 matches since August 2009.

Pakistan have played the highest number of matches (24) during that period, but have lost more than 50 per cent of their matches which explains their current seventh position.

England batsman Eoin Morgan leads the T20 batting rankings and Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis tops the bowling charts, while Shane watson is the leading all-rounder in the format.

England, who also top the Test rankings at present, will fall behind Sri Lanka in the Twenty20 rankings should they lose their clash with India on Thursday, but will go four points clear if they win.

"The introduction of rankings for international Twenty20 cricket provides real context to the various series played between member countries on an ongoing basis," England's team director Andy Flower said.

"Until now we haven't had the chance to play a large number of Twenty20 Internationals so this will offer a benchmark as to who is performing at international level."

ICC General Manager - Cricket, David Richardson, speaking at the launch ceremony, said: "The ICC is delighted to announce the team and player rankings for Twenty20 international cricket.

"The launch of T20I rankings will generate even more interest in the shortest format and will help to give more context to bilateral T20Is.

"Despite the fact that not as many T20Is have been played as Tests or ODIs, the ICC believes these rankings add context to nation versus nation contests in the shortest of cricket's three vibrant international formats."