T20 International cricket, a new favourite format of the cricket fans, has undoubtedly evolved rapidly on the International stage. It took less than a decade for this shortest format to come up and enhance the thrill of the playfield.
Just like other cricketing arena games, this one is not less than the rest and thus requires equal effort and determination to be a master of this T20 format. Many players progressed themselves according to their requirements, and the ones left out couldn’t play a significant role for their teams.
Here we look at the the players who were the most functional in this T20 International format:
Best 50 International players:
1. Ajantha Mendis
Spin bowler of the Sri Lankan team, Ajantha Mendis, has proved that bowling can also play a significant role in this short T20 cricket format. In the 39 matches he played between 2008 and 2014, he has taken 66 wickets with an impressive average of 14.42 and the best figure being 6/8.
This Sri Lankan player is ranked no. 1 among the best T20 International cricket players of all time with his massive contributions to the ball.
2. Chris Gayle
Chris Gayle, an all-time favorite of the fans in the T20 format, is famous for his power-hitting and is known as one of the most dangerous batters across the globe. Making appearances in 79 matches, he scored 1899 runs with an impressive strike rate of 137.50.
This West Indies player is also one of the best power hitters, and the way he strikes the ball into mid-air, encroaching the milestones, he also seems to be a dangerous player.
3. Kevin Pietersen
A right-handed England batsman, Kevin Pietersen, with the best batting average in T20Is, numbering 37.93, is a consistent performer. Overall he has played 37 T20 cricket games and scored 1176 vital runs for the men in blue.
With a strike rate of 141.51, he has slammed those runs with his bat and made his place among the greatest players of T20 cricket.
4. Brendon McCullum
Brendon McCullum is a wicket-keeper batsman for the New Zealand cricket team. He is a total run machine and the only player to score two 100s in this T20 cricket format. McCullum is one of the best batsmen holding the top order of NZ perfectly.
With 71 games of T20 played, he scored 2140 runs with a strike rate of 136.21, and his highest-scoring runs were 123.
5. Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh, a left-handed batsman of the Indian cricket team, is incomparable on the T20 International stage. A power hitter of the shortest format, he has played 58 games and scored 1177 runs out of them with a strike rate of 136.38.
He has won the IPL title by playing for six different franchises since he started his Indian Premier League journey. Many other records of him make it clear that Yuvraj is one of the greatest T20 batsmen.
6. Virat Kohli
India’s all-time great’s, Virat Kohli, is a beautiful captain who has led his team enormously in all three formats. He has played a lot of T20 cricket, and numbering them makes it count 97 matches in total, scoring 3296 runs in those innings with an impressive strike rate of 137.67.
Besides this, many records have been given under his name, including the top batsman of the T20 format in the ICC World T20 ranking.
7. Saeed Ajmal
Saeed Ajmal is another bowler on the list, a Pakistani off-break spinner who made his T20 debut on 7 May 2009 against Australia. He took 85 wickets in 64 T20 matches with an economy rate of 6.36 and an average of 17.83; They are one of the best bowlers.
He was ranked number 8 for the player who has played the most consecutive matches for a team (54) in T20 International cricket. He also played for Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League.
8. Alex Hales
Alex Hales is one of the world’s best T20 batsmen playing for the England cricket team. on made his debut in 2011, 31 August, against India in Manchester. He has scored 1644 runs in 60 matches with a strike rate of 136.65.
Hales was the fastest to complete 1000 runs in T20 cricket and played on the highest partnership for the second wicket (159).
9. Umar Gul
Another player of the Pakistan cricket team, Umar Gul, is a right-arm fast-medium bowler who has served the home team for over a decade and made his place in the second-best strike rate of 14.1 among the bowlers.
In his 60 games played in T20 International, he clasped 85 wickets with an average of 16.97 and economy rate of 7.19, sending back the batters to the pavilion with his out-class bowling style. He has four four-wicket hauls and five and two five-wicket hauls in this format which is more than any other bowler.
10. Dale Steyn
One of the world’s greatest fast bowlers, Dale Steyn, is a South African cricketer with a remarkable performance in t20 cricket and test cricket. With a superb economy rate of 6.94 in 47 T20 games, he grasped 64 wickets for the team.
He has a record of being the fastest to take 50 wickets in T20 cricket, and also, most of his doors were caught behind the stumps by the wicket-keeper.
Also, see: Top 25 highest wicket-takers in world t20s
11. David Warner
Another greatest batsman, David Warner, is a left-handed batsman of the Australian cricket team. He has been dazzling in the T20 cricket format, even for the IPL team Sunrisers Hyderabad as one of the best players.
He has scored the most runs numbering 2684 in 91 innings of T20 and his highest score being 100* with a strike rate of 140.89; he claimed 22 fifties in this format, being among the best t20 batters.
12. Marlon Samuels
Marlon Samuels is a top-order West Indies cricket team batsman who is most known for his performances in the test cricket, but nonetheless, he has also set a majestic place for himself in the t20 cricket.
In his 67 matches of T20 games, Samuels scored 1611 runs with a strike rate of 116.23 and a batting average of 29.29. Undoubtedly, he has been a very consistent performer on the International stage.
13. Sunil Narine
One of the best all-rounders of T20 cricket, Sunil Narine, is a mystery spinner, and in his T20 career, he has shown himself in 51 matches, taking 52 wickets for the West Indies squad. He has proved to be the best bowler among a few others with talents using the ball.
His best career economy rate was 6.01, and most wickets taken were stumped behind, both of which was he awarded in the game.
14. Mahela Jayawardene
Sri Lankan right-handed batsman Mahela Jayawardene enjoyed his whole career in t20 as it was full of non-ending success. He was the second-highest run-scorer in T20 cricket history who played 55 matches and scored 1493 runs with a strike rate of 133.18 and 100 as the highest score.
With a batting average of 31.76, Mahela played his last T20 game against India at Mirpur on April 06, 2014. He has made a record of scoring thirteen 100s against one team in T20 and ODI formats also.
15. Graeme Smith
Graeme Smith is a former opening left-handed batsman of the South Africa team. He found his way into the list of being among the best players in t20 cricket due to his stunning statistics starting with playing 33 matches and altogether putting 982 runs with an average of 31.67 in his career figures.
His T20 career-best was when he secured three early 50s consecutively in the first five games, set everyone ablaze with his splendid performance, and later became the greatest T20 player known until now.
16. Shane Watson
Another best all-rounder, Shane Watson, is an Australian cricketer who actually rules all the three formats of this game but eventually is the best in T20 cricket. This particular player has played 58 matches in T20 Internationals and made 1462 runs with a strike rate of 145.32. With the ball, he showed his talent by taking 48 wickets.
He is undoubtedly a complete player and has won many players of the match awards (9) in T20 cricket. Watson also plays for both Indian Premier League and Pakistan Super League for Chennai Super Kings and Quetta Gladiators, respectively.
17. Martin Guptill
The shortest format specialist, Martin Guptill,,, all his way, finally earned the position of greatest T20 player in the world. This right-handed opening batsman has played 112 T20 cricket games and scored 3299 runs with a strike rate of 136.71 and an average of 32.66.
Guptill collected ten players of the match awards, made the record for scoring most runs on a single ground (626), and was the fastest batsman to cover 2500 runs in this shortest format for New Zealand.
18. Graeme Swann
Graeme Swann is a right-arm off-break bowler for the England team. He was a well-known professional player on this team, and thus, his retirement only caused distortion for them. He took part in 39 matches of the International T20 cricket game and gathered 51 wickets out of them.
His top records include taking most maidens in an innings and many more, which shows he fulfilled the role of the greatest T20 bowler for his national team by keeping the economic rate in balance.
19. Suresh Raina
Another greatest T20 cricket batsman, Suresh Raina, is a former player of India. Having a left-hand batting style, he has been present in 78 matches scoring 1605 no. of suns with his outstanding performance using the bat, having a strike rate of 134.87 and an average rate of 29.18.
His T20 career holds five 50s and one 100s, with the highest score of 101. His contribution to team India has been a lot, with complete dedication to playing the role of the world’s best batsman.
20. Abdur Razzak
Abdur Razzak is a slow left-arm orthodox bowler of the Bangladesh cricket team. His records show his exemplary performance for the team and thus declare him as the best t20 cricket player in the world.
Razzak has played 34 matches and laid hold off 44 wickets with an average of 19.04 and an economy rate of 6.88. He also has one 4-wicket haul included in his career statistics.
21. Hamilton Masakadza
Another greatest batsman mentioned here, Hamilton Masakadza, is a cricket player from Zimbabwe who is one of the most consistent players known in T20 cricket. Talking about his matches played, he has participated in 66 games, making 1662 runs with an average of 25.96 and a strike rate of 117.20.
His highest run score is 93*, and he has made many records adding up to his career history as a batsman, including playing the most innings before his first duck.
22. Shakib Al Hasan
2nd Bangladesh player on this list, Shakib Al Hasan, is an all-rounder batsman and one of the finest cricketers in T20 cricket. This former captain plays left-handedly with the bat and is a spin bowler. In his batting stats, he has played 96 matches and scored 1908 runs with a strike rate of 119.17.
Further paying attention to his bowling career, in 96 matches, he took 119 wickets with an economy of 6.67 and best figures of 5 wickets with 20 runs drawn. Shakib is thus the greatest T20 cricket batsman.
23. Kumar Sangakkara
Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara, a left-hand wicketkeeper-batsman and an outstanding Sri Lankan team cricket player has played 56 T20 matches and scored 1382 runs with an average of 31.40 and a strike rate of 119.55.
He also won many awards such as 9th highest partnership for the seventh wicket (68*), 5th rank for the most stumpings in a career (20), 9th for the most dismissals in a career (45), and 4th rank for the captains who have kept wicket (22).
24. Michael Hussey
Michael Hussey is a former International cricketer of the Australian team and also represented them as a coach. He is a middle-order left-handed batsman who scored a total of 721 runs in 38 T20 cricket matches with a batting average of 37.94 and a strike rate of 136.29, including four 50s.
He is among the greatest T20 International players and a specialist in limited-overs. In his career gathered many awards in this format. They made history with his several records, including the 18th rank for most catches in an innings and 13th highest career batting average in T20s.
25. Gautam Gambhir
Apart from Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir is also India’s most dangerous top-order batsman with a left-hand batting style. He has played 37 T20 cricket matches and scored 932 runs with a batting average of 27.41 and a strike rate of 119.20. He also plays in the Indian Premier League and made IPL history records.
Being among the best T20 batsman, he also made many records as he stood in the 50th position for most fifties in his International career (7), 42nd for most fours in an innings, and many more very valuable to the team.
Also, read: Top 10 cricketers who won’t be a part of the t20 world cup 2022
26. George Bailey
The former player of the Australian cricket team, George Bailey, is another talented right-handed top-order batsman. He has tremendously captained the home team in this shortest format of cricket as a true leader. He has appeared in a total of 30 t20 cricket matches in which he scored 473 runs with an average of 24.89 and a strike rate of 136.70.
Although this greatest T20 batsman served himself for Australia for six years, starting from his T20 debut on February 01, 2012, against India in Sydney and ending his career on the 15th of September, 2017 at Lahore, where the World-XI played against Pakistan, his absence still disturbed the Australian team.
27. JP Duminy
JP Duminy is a South African former cricketer and a commentator who has led the team in the limited-over T20 International cricket format. As a batting all-rounder, Duminy, with his left-hand batting style, has played over 81 total matches in this format and blasted 1934 runs with a fantastic strike rate of 126.24 and average of 38.68.
Not much efficient, but he has also bowled out 21 batters with an economy rate of 7.76. He was ranked no. 12 for having the highest career batting average, confirming his efficiency as the greatest T20 batsman.
28. Cameron White
Former Australian cricket player Cameron White also captained the team in the T20 cricket format. As a right-handed middle-order batsman, he has played 47 matches and scored 984 runs with an excellent strike rate of 132.97, along with an average of 32.80.
With his impressive career statistics, he never disappointed his team in terms of batting in this format and made many records as one of the most incredible batters.
29. Morne Morkel
Another South African former cricketer, Morne Morkel, who has served his team on the International stage from 2006 to 2018, is a right-arm fast bowler. In his T20 cricket career, he has played 44 matches and laid hold off 47 wickets with an economy rate of 7.50 and an average of 7.33.
He has taken most four wickets in an innings, and most of his finest balls bowled in the form of wickets were caught behind by the wicket-keeper. His superlative game skills in T20 have never let down his team.
30. Tillakaratne Dilshan
Tillakaratne Dilshan is a former captain and a player of the Sri Lankan cricket team. He is a right-handed wicket-keeper batsman who has played 80 matches in the T20 cricket format. Scoring 1889 runs with an average of 28.19 and a strike rate of 120.54, including thirteen 50s, he has been a valuable batsman.
Dilshan has won 6 players of the match awards in T20 Internationals and is 22nd on the list of most runs scored in T20 matches. Playing a vital role for the team, he sits as the best T20 batsman.
31. Shane Bond
New Zealand’s so-called greatest T20 right-arm fast bowler, Shane Bond who was set to ablaze the team spirit in the near future, unfortunately, had to end his career soon due to his injury which in turn left the team short of this emphatic bowler.
In the short span of 5 years, Shane Bond played 20 matches and took 25 wickets with an economy rate of 7.00 and an average being 21.75. He made his debut against South Africa at Johannesburg on October 21, 2005, whereas his last T20 cricket game was played on May 10, 2010, in a match against England at Gros Islet.
32. Eoin Morgan
An occasional wicket-keeper with a left-hand batting style, Eoin Morgan is the utmost beauty of the England cricket team with his middle-order batting. He has appeared in 115 matches and made 2458 runs with a strike rate of 136.17 and a batting average of 28.58.
This crafty batsman is a part of the vital corner of the team with his skills and innovative batting style. Morgan has also served the team as a captain in t20 cricket leading 72 matches and gathering 8 players of the match award.
33. Mitchell Johnson
Mitchell Guy Johnson is a former left-arm fast bowler of the Australian cricket team. Just like his resurgence is known in the test cricket, he has also not disenchanted the team in this shortest T20 cricket format.
Mitchell has played 30 matches where he took 38 wickets with an average of 20.97 and an economy rate of 7.28. He was ranked 10th for outstanding bowling analyses in an innings and was the 1st most wicket-taker by hit-wickets. His exceptional form in T20 games determined the strength of the Australian team on the field.
34. Lasith Malinga
Another bowler who is regarded as the finest one in T20 cricket is Lasith Malinga. With his right-arm fast swing bowling yorkers, he has blown 107 wickets in 84 games with an average and economy rate of 20.79 and 7.42, respectively.
Malinga was the 1st in this format and the greatest t20 bowler to have the most wickets bowled. With his perfect bowling spells, he has helped the Sri Lankan team in many game events showering outstanding statistic records.
35. Jacques Kallis
Jacques Henry Kallis is a former player and an all-rounder of the South Africa cricket team. In his 25 played matches in T20 cricket, he scored 666 runs with an average of 35.05 and a strike rate of 119.35.
However, in these T20 International games, his economy rate of 7.23 with the ball, taking just 12 wickets, affected his rank spot among the most valuable T20 international players, or else there is no doubt that Jacques is also among the greatest t20 format players.
36. Imran Nazir
Pakistan’s top-order batsman and a right-handed player, Imran Nazir, was an exceptional T20 cricket player with excellent batting skills in all the formats. His t20 career did not last long, but he made it efficient until hen it remained.
From 25 matches, Imran scored 500 runs with a fantastic strike rate of 135.13 and an average rate of 21.73. His T20 debut was against South Africa at Johannesburg on 2nd February 2007, whereas he played his last T20 game on 4th October 2012 at Colombo against Sri Lanka.
37. Jesse Ryder
Jesse Daniel Ryder is a former player of New Zealand and played as a left-handed batsman. In his short-format T20 cricket career, he has played a total of 22 matches and managed to score 457 runs incredibly with an average of. 22.85 and a reasonable strike rate of 127.65.
Even Jesse’s T20 career did not last long enough, but he still shone brightly as a star for his home team. He made his T20 debut on the 5th of February, 2008, at Auckland against England, whereas his last game was at Wellington, held on the 15th of January, 2014, vs West Indies.
38. Daniel Vettori
Featuring as an all-rounder with a left-hand batting style and slow-left-arm orthodox bowling, Daniel Luca Vettori found his place among the top 50 best T20 players on this list. With the bat in 34 matches, he scored 205 runs with an average of 12.81 and a regular strike rate of 107.89.
With the ball, he gathered 38 wickets in those innings with a bowling average of 19.68 and an economy rate of 5.70. He has the best figures in an innings as a captain and the 2nd best career economy rate.
39. Shahid Afridi
Former cricketer and a captain of the Pakistan National cricket team, Shahid Afridi has played as an all-rounder with a right-handed batting style and bowling leg-break googlies. In 99 matches, he scored 1416 runs with a superb strike rate of 150 and also took 98 wickets with the best economy rate of 6.63 only.
This exceptional all-rounder has served the Pakistan team very efficiently with both bat and ball with his consistency in this T20 cricket format. He is also known to handle death overs easily, whether it is while batting or bowling, he keeps everything at the most delicate stage.
40. Stuart Broad
Stuart CJ Broad is a former player of the England cricket team who represents the men in blue as a right-arm fast-medium bowler. In 56 T20 cricket matches, he took 65 wickets with an average of 22.93 and an economy of 7.62.
He has proved to be one of the most efficient players of the t20 format and the greatest T20 bowler with his skills. He has the 8th best figures in an innings by a captain and is thus a vital player of the home team.
41. Ahmed Shahzad
The opening batsman of Pakistan, Ahmed Shehzad, made his One Day International and T20 cricket debut in April 2019 against Australia. Just like in ODI cricket, Ahmed is also an impressive player in this short format. He has played 59 matches and made 1471 runs with an average of 25.80 and a strike rate of 114.74.
His best score was 111 runs and not out, which was among his finest performances. This aggressive batsman thus was Pakistan’s complete package as an opener with the best T20 skills.
42. Salman Butt
Unfortunately another Pakistani batsman, Salman Butt, whose career didn’t last long due to his spot-fixing scandal, played his T20 cricket debut on September 02, 2007, at Nairobi against Bangladesh. On July 06, 2010, Salman played his last T20 International game against Australia at Birmingham.
Although some people remember him due to his wrong doings in cricket history, many think of him as capable of being on this list due to his good figures of 595 runs in just 24 matches with a strike rate of 107.98 and an average of 28.33.
43. Mohammad Hafeez
A top 10 run-scorer and spin bowler taking wickets for the Pakistan National Cricket team, Muhammad Hafeez is a former player. This all-rounder has played 119 T20 cricket matches in which he scored a massive number of 2514 runs with a strike rate of 122.03 and a batting average of 26.46.
With the ball, he gathered 61 wickets in 79 innings with an economy of 6.60 and the best figure of 4 doors taken for just ten runs. On January 03, 202, this legendary player announced his retirement from international cricket after being in service for 18 years.
44. Michael Lumb
Michael John Lumb is a former England cricketer who played the team’s top-order batsman role. He had become an essential part of this team with his fashionable opening style, which was very useful for the team.
He appeared in 27 matches in T20 cricket and made 552 runs with an average of 21.23 and a strike rate of 133.65. Seeing his stats there remains no doubt about his finest cricketing skills in this format.
45. Harbhajan Singh
Former Indian cricketer, Harbhajan Singh is a right-arm off-break spinner who is known to be the best limited-over choice in the T20 cricket format. From the 28 games that he played in this format, he claimed 25 wickets with an average of 25.32 and an economy rate of 6.20.
He has one of the best career economy rates with most maidens in an innings in the T20 International format. His other career-best figure includes the 4/12 spell in the ICC T20 World Cup which destroyed the England batting line-up.
46. Brendan Taylor
The finest player of the Zimbabwe cricket team, Brendan Taylor is a wicket-keeper batsman who made his T20 International cricket debut on November 28, 2006, against Bangladesh at Khulna. He ended his T20 career in the year 2021 when he played his last game against Ireland on September 13, 2021.
Brendan has played 45 games making 934 valuable runs with an average of 23.94 and a strike rate of 118.22. His highest score was 75* in this short format. His place in this list is thus non-questionable.
47. Umar Akmal
Umar Akmal played for the Pakistan National Cricket team from 2009 to 2019 in all formats. However, this wicket-keeper and a middle-order batsman represented his team as the second-highest run-scorer in the T20 format.
Umar appeared in 84 games in which he made 1690 runs with a good strike rate of 122.73 and a batting average of 26.00. He also shows his out-class performance in the Pakistan Super League until now for Quetta Gladiators.
48. Tim Southee
Tim Southee is a right-arm fast bowler for the New Zealand cricket team. In his T20 International career, his stats reveal his presence in 92 matches where he took 111 wickets with the best spell of 5/18 having an economy rate of 8.19 and an average of 24.58.
He was a leading wicket-taker in this format who impressed mostly everyone with his seam bowling and came all the way into the top 50 best T20 players list.
49. Jade Dernbach
Former English cricketer, Jade Dernbach is a right-arm pace bowler who holds position no. 49 here. He has played 40 matches in the T20 International cricket format and has taken over 44 wickets with an economy rate and average rate of 8.49 and 26.59 respectively.
Jane played his T20 debut on June 25, 2011, against Sri Lanka at Bristol whereas his last game was held on October 21, 2021, in Almeria in a match of Italy vs Germany. His good form in T20s reflected his great performance too.
50. Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma is a current player of the Indian cricket team who has played 125 matches in the T20 cricket format until now and has made a huge 3313 no. of runs with an average of 32.48 and a strike rate of 139.55.
He is well known for his excellent skills with the bat and has made many records in T20 Internationals including being the fastest to score 2500 runs, most fifties in his career (30) and many more which is why this elegant batsman is also a greatest T20 player.
