Brook wants to keep No. 1 ranking after England sweep aside Sri Lanka

Harry Brook has challenged England to fight to keep their T20I No.1 ranking after reclaiming it on Saturday afternoon by winning the third and final match of the series against Sri Lanka.

Victory by eight wickets at Emirates Old Trafford confirmed a 3-0 scoreline, which sees England leapfrog India to go top of the ICC rankings. They had previously done so after beating India 4-0 earlier this summer, only for the T20 world champions to take back the mantle weeks later by beating Zimbabwe.

England's ascent began in earnest with Brook's appointment as limited-overs captain at the start of last summer. Though the team were third at the time, it has required a run of 23 wins in 26 completed matches since, including now seven victories in a row, to usurp India for a second time in as many months.

"I think we should be extremely proud to win another series, another whitewash series and go back to world number one is an extremely good effort," Brook said. "Everybody in that changing room should be really proud of themselves.

"It feels like that, yeah," he said when asked if it felt like he was leading the best T20 side. England capped their dominance over Sri Lanka with a chase of 125 completed in 9.4 overs. Jos Buttler sealed it with a six, finishing unbeaten on 62.

"I think everything's running so smoothly, especially in the field. Lads are taking it upon themselves to make sure they're in the right spots and we're really nailing down and buying into everything that we're talking about in the outfield. Especially we're putting 100% in, which is all that we can ever ask for."

With the next T20 World Cup taking place in 2028, co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, the format will soon become lowest on the agenda. New Test head coach, Stephen Fleming, was present at Emirates Old Trafford having joined white-ball coach, Brendon McCullum, on the final leg of the T20I series, and the pair have already been discussing the pull on all-format players for their own needs.

Fleming's spell begins with a three-match Test series against South Africa, which overlaps with the end of a limited-overs tour of Australia. With an Ashes next summer followed by the ODI World Cup, players at the sharp end of the three formats will be managed accordingly for those challenges.

No one will feel that pull more than the T20I side and Brook himself, as Test vice-captain. Selectors thought about resting him for this series before deciding otherwise following conversations with the 27-year-old.

Keen to establish his captaincy further, and continuing this impressive T20I run, Brook spoke of the need to continue being ruthless and use the No. 1 ranking as a badge of honour to keep motivation levels high.

"That's why we went with our strongest side today. With the opportunity of whitewashing aside, you never want to take that for granted.

"We obviously knew that we had the opportunity to go number one before the series if we had a beaten them 3-0. So that was always in the back of our minds.

"We've got to stay motivated to try and keep that spot for as long as possible. We probably don't play as much T20 as other nations, especially India who play a hell of a lot of T20s. So keeping that might not be as easy as it sounds, but every opportunity we get, we're going to try and dominate in opposition."