Sydney, Jan 26 : Seventh-placed Australia could jump five places to the second rank in the ICC Twenty20 rankings in the next three weeks if the results go in their favour.

Australia takes on top-ranked Sri Lanka at ANZ Stadium on Saturday before an Australia Day crowd tipped to exceed 45,000, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Both the teams meet again in Melbourne next week, before a one-off match against West Indies in Brisbane on February 13.

If Australia, presently ranked above only New Zealand, Bangladesh, Ireland and Zimbabwe, and the Black Caps knock off England in two games at home early next month, India would be the new leading team in the T20 format, with George Bailey''s side less than a rating point behind in second place, the paper said.

Should England beat New Zealand they would be No. 1, with India second and Australia third, it added. That depends on Australia winning all three of its upcoming T20 matches and if they drop all three they could slump to an embarrassing eighth in the world.

If anything the permeations show the frolicsome nature of limited-overs rankings, coming days after Australia were elevated to third on the one-day list despite an uninspiring 2-2 series draw against Sri Lanka, the paper concluded. (ANI)