Best T20 Players: Cricket is a sport that is enjoyed by many people in various parts of the world. There are many established players from across the world who come to play the T20 league matches namely Indian Premier League. This game of eleven players has been established for the past 7 years and it has expanded to an international level. This is the place where the most talented sports compete in teams that are not usually restricted to their own countries. They are sorted with other players from across the world and this makes the league games even more unique.
Here’s a list of the Best T20 Players of all times
Suresh Raina
Suresh Raina is called lovingly as Mr. IPL and, is without an argument, a legend when it comes to this short format. He endears playing in the IPL and his record in the league is the evidence to prove that. He has always been the man who acts as the backbone of the Chennai Super Kings’ success in the league. He has scored more than a usual of 400 runs in almost every season. He can be labelled as the most amazing and trustworthy lieutenant of the Chennai team and has been the go-to man for M.S Dhoni during tough times.
This southpaw has accumulated 5103 runs in 181 IPL matches and is currently holding the second place in the list of the most runs scored in the Indian league’s history. Sweetly nicknamed as “Chinna Thala” by the Chennayin fans, Suresh Raina has conquered the IPL, seasons after seasons and will indisputably go down as one of the greatest in the history of the competition.
Michael Klinger
Michael Klinger can be designated as one of the unluckiest Australian players in recent times as he was constantly unnoticed by the selectors despite having piled tons of runs in domestic level cricket. He embraces the record of having scored the greatest number of centuries and also the most number of runs in the T20 cricket before starting his international debut. He retired from the Big Bash League in the start of this year as the leading run scorer with 1947 runs from 71 matches. He played for the Adelaide Strikers during his earlier days in the league and gradually shifted his base to the Perth Scorchers team.
This veteran won the league twice with the Perth team and was the tool facilitating both the victories for his team. Michael Klinger is one of the most appreciated and loved cricketers in West Australian cricket and is without an argument, the best player in the Big Bash League till date.
Wahab Riaz
Wahab Riaz is one of the exceptional left-arm fast bowler who has dominated over the Pakistan Super League (PSL) having played for the Peshawar Zalmi team. He is a leading wicket-taker in the Pakistani league with 65 wickets off 45 matches with a striking economy of 6.76 runs per over. He has been a vital member for the Peshawar side and has delivered more often than not for his team.
He has also played a major role in his teams’ title triumph in 2017 where Wahab grabbed 15 wickets in 10 matches with an amazing average of 13.53 and also was the second highest wicket-taker of the season. Despite not making it into the Pakistan team on a steady basis, Wahab manages to get the best out of himself in the PSL.
Mashrafe Mortaza
Bangladesh’s ODI captain has been one of the most fruitful leaders and players in the Bangladesh Premiere League and has won the matches in a record for four times. He was primarily a part of the Dhaka Gladiators and he led them to the titular victory two back to back years in 2012 and 2013. When the BPL was re-born in 2015, he was bought by the Comilla Victorians team and he sealed the trophy for the third time with them in the same year. Later, he moved to the Rangpur Riders team and again he got his hands on the trophy in 2017.
Playing for three various teams and getting the trophy four times in six seasons is a clear pointer of Mortaza’s cricketing brilliance and excellent leadership qualities. He has also been the second- best wicket-taker in the history of BPL with 73 wickets to his credits.
Chris Gayle
Chris Gayle holds the record for the most runs, fastest and the most hundred, and most fours and sixes in any T20 cricket. He has been part of nearly every big shot T20 leagues in the world and has conquered and shattered the bowlers across the globe.
He played for the Jamaica Tallawah’s side in the CPL from 2013 to 2016 and was also the captain of his team. He led his team to titular victories two times in four years and achieved extraordinarily while opening as the batsman. He relocated to St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in 2017. He is being the Universe Boss that he is, he has also been the top run scorers in CPL’s history with 2111 runs in 66 matches with three hundred to his credits. He remains one of the most inspirational players to ever play cricket till date.
Joe Denly
Joe Denly carries with him an exceptional record in T20 cricket and has transformed his game within the past few years. He has been playing in various T20 leagues across the world lately and is also a key part of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team now. He has been a major league player for the Kent team in T20 Blasts and achieved remarkably with both a bat and ball in the past few seasons.
Originally a top order batsman, Joe Denly has included a new dimension to his game with his improvised leg-spin bowling in the more recent times. He is presently the highest run scorer in T20 blast with 3927 runs off 151 matches.
Shahid Afridi
Another Best amongst the T20 Players, 9 MOM awards which is the highest score yet, includes MOM awards in semi-finals and finals of a World Twenty20, a single player of the match award, third highest wicket-taker and with a man with a batting strike rate of 143, Shahid Afridi tops the list of the most successful T20I player so far. Afridi is the only player, alongside Kamran Akmal, to have played all the semi-finals in each of the seasons of World Twenty20 yet. Afridi gave his two MOM performances during 2013 which means he is always in form when it comes to T20I Cricket, to go along with his current salvo in Asia Cup which was also held in Bangladesh.
Anton Devcich
Anton Devcich has been a hard-hitting opening batsman and a vital left-arm orthodox bowler. He has always been an essential part of the Northern Knights team in the Super Smash and has been one of the major players in this league. With his all-around achievements in both batting and balling, Anton Devcich was vital in Knight’s title triumph during the 2017-18 season.
He achieved the Man of the Match award in the climax of the match where he grabbed three main wickets before scoring an unbeaten 51 runs from 24 balls while sealing the victory for his team with a boundary (four runs). He ended the season by becoming the highest run scorer with 343 runs within 10 innings and also the second top wicket-taker the same year with 15 wickets from 10 matches.
Yuvraj Singh
One of the Best T20 Players, as opposed to his other fellow players, the SIX-SIXES MAN, Yuvraj Singh has maintained an incredible T20 record, compared to his IPL record. Yuvraj is the second- best player of T20Is with 7 Man of The Match awards in just 34 matches, and this means that he exhibits an outstanding performance within the 5 matches that he has played. Since his comeback after the treatments for cancer, Yuvi has looked all the more himself in T20Is than in any other formats. He has already given two of his signature MOM performances after his comeback, both at home ground and against Pakistan and Australia. Conditions in Bangladesh will suit to Yuvraj’s style of aggressive play. He has been a stunning player throughout his career and is admired by many of his contemporaries.
Kevin Pietersen
England’s star T20 player, commonly known as KP, is once again not going to play for his home team in a World T20 tournament. And again, it is due to all the usual other reasons excluding the fact that that he is out of form nor is he inadequate to play in this format. This is going to be KP’s second successive vanishing from the matches. Pietersen has an average which touches 38 in T20Is, with a strike rate of over 140, which is even better than those compared to openers like Gayle and McCullum, which just displays his efficiency even in this style of gaming. In addition, in overall World Twenty20s, Kevin Pietersen has an average of enormous 45s with a strike rate touching 150. He holds 6 MOM awards for England and the first time ever when England went on to win the ICC World Twenty20 in 2010, he was the player of the tournament.
Brendon McCullum
Another one of the Best T20 Players, McCullum has a usual average of 36 and strike rate of over 135 in T20Is which is incredible since he is the highest run scorer in the history of T20Is, reaching 2000 runs, with a lead of 600 runs over the next man preceding him. His glorious innings against the Bangladesh team in World Twenty20 during the 2012 season was one of his highlights of that impression. Conversely, McCullum would be a little dissatisfied with not winning a single World Twenty20 despite New Zealand having suitable players for the format and him being a world class T20 batsman.
Lasith Malinga
Astonishingly, Malinga hasn’t been at his deadly best in International T20 Cricket. He has gained 60 wickets in 50 matches with a budget of 7.37 when compared to his 236 wickets off 175 with an economy of 6.63 in complete T20 Cricket. Even more inexplicable is the fact that he has won only 1 MOM award in all the T20Is he has ever played. Yet, Malinga is always up there when it comes to bowling at the death pace in any format. In the previous World T20, he had won against England single headedly when he picked up 5 of their wickets on a flat track at Pallekele and enthusiasts are expecting similar performances from him at Bangladesh considering the similarity of the conditions.
Muhammad Hafeez
10th highest Wickets Taker, with 8 MOM awards, this Pakistani T20I captain is also the combined second highest MOM award holders in T20Is. He bats stylishly yet quickly at the top and also typically opens the bowling for Pakistan with his ingenious off spin bowling. And as a left-handed player, he casually opens mostly for his teams and it is almost a compulsion for Hafeez to open the bowling. He has been detected to have a completely different body language when it comes to T20 type matches when compared to his attitude in other traditionally longer formats. The previous time, he led his team to reach the semi-final in World Twenty20 in 2012 season. He is expected to take them one step further with the form he is in now.
These are the all-time best players in the shorter league. The games they play are the reason they have come to the limelight and their hard work, determination and their passion for the game are the reason behind their success. These established players come from across the world to play for leagues and prove their efficiency in the field. They have a great track record and are stunning players in their field because of their constant efforts.
