Top 10 greatest batters in T20I cricket history

Virat kohli. (Photo Source: BCCI)

On February 17, 2005, Australia and New Zealand took center stage at Eden Park in Auckland for the first-ever T20I International match. It has been 18 years since the historic moment took place, and many top-tier cricketers have graced the sport ever since and made the T20 format their own.

Among them, there are certain batters who have inflicted carnage on the best of bowlers and left the world in awe of their aptitude. They have toyed with bowling attacks and established their supremacy in the T20I arena.

While many of them have emerged to be popular mercenaries of the game, playing T20 leagues all around the world, few others have confined their excellence to their national teams only. Overall, this brand of cricketers has got everyone to dance to their tunes at some point in time during their illustrious careers. Today, we look at ten of those greatest T20I batters.

Here are the top ten greatest T20I batters of all time

10. Aaron Finch

Aaron Finch. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Aaron Finch, who is now retired, was a prominent figure in the T20 circuit. He obliterated bowling attacks with his marauding bat and stamped his authority on the cricket field. The 36-year-old featured in 382 T20 games and amassed 11392 runs at a strike rate of 138.53.

Playing in the shortest format, Finch was phenomenal for his national team as well. The ace batter played 103 T20Is and accumulated 3120 runs at a strike rate of 142.53, which includes two incredible centuries. His blistering knock of 172 runs off 76 balls against Zimbabwe in July 2018 still remains the highest individual score in the history of T20 Internationals.

Besides his batting might, Finch is an astute tactician of the game who led Australia to their maiden World T20 title in 2021. The right-handed batter retired from international cricket on February 2023. However, he still continues to play in the leagues and domestic tournaments and occasionally takes part in T20 events as well.

9. Martin Guptill

Martin Guptill. (Photo by Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)

Martin Guptill is one of the finest opening batters New Zealand cricket has ever produced. He has time and again, rampaged through the opposition’s bowling unit and provided his side with brisk starts on a consistent basis. When on song, the 36-year-old can take down even the best of bowlers.

Guptill has made 122 appearances for his national side in the shortest format and amassed 3531 runs at a strike rate of 135.70, which includes two centuries and 20 half-centuries. The ace batter’s mountainlike tally of runs is the third most by any batter in T20 Internationals.

Moreover, Guptill is known to hit sixes in heaps and has cleared the ropes on 173 occasions, which is the second-most by a batter in T20Is. The Kiwi batter last played for the national side in October 2022 and has been sidelined from the team since then. He would look to shine in the franchise T20 leagues and make a comeback into international cricket.

8. David Miller

David Miller. (Photo Source: Disney+Hotstar)

David Miller is one of the most sought-after players in the T20 circuit. He has taken bowling attacks to the cleaners and finished games for his side on a high. Further, the 33-year-old has displayed his ability to steady the ship when his team is in choppy waters and has many times shepherded the innings beautifully.

Miller has featured in 427 T20 matches and racked up an incredible tally of 9299 runs at a strike rate of 138.95. Also, he has been remarkable in the international arena and has demolished bowling units at will. The Proteas batter has smashed 2147 runs in 111 T20Is at a strike rate of 144.19 which consists of two centuries and six half-centuries.

Moreover, Miller holds the record for the joint-fastest ton in T20 cricket along with Rohit Sharma. The southpaw achieved the feat against Bangladesh in October 2017 in Potchefstroom as he smashed a century in just 35 deliveries. Miller, who made his international debut in May 2010, is still an integral part of the South African side. He would look to carry on the good work for his team in the years to come.

7. Glenn Maxwell

Glenn Maxwell. (Phoot Source: Disney+Hotstar)

Glenn Maxwell has been a proven performer in white-ball cricket. He has knocked the wind out of bowling attacks with his flamboyant stroke play and changed the game in favour of his side. Also, the 34-year-old is a wily customer with the ball and has chipped in with crucial wickets.

Maxwell has featured in 98 T20Is and aggregated 2159 runs at a stunning strike rate of 150.97. On the bowling front, he has bagged 39 wickets at an economy of 7.46. The Melbourne-born was in pristine touch in the year 2018 and plundered 506 runs in 19 matches at a strike rate of 143.75.

Maxwell has been simply sensational in T20 World Cups. He has featured in 24 matches in the T20 extravaganza and plundered 446 runs at a strike rate of 147.68. The team management would hope the batting all-rounder continues to show his class in the years to come.

6. Jos Buttler

Jos Buttler (Photo Source: Twitter)

Jos Buttler has been a bankable name in the T20 circuit. He is a marauder with the bat and has dismantled bowling attacks with his glorious stroke play. The wicketkeeper-batter has featured in 350 matches in the shortest format and accumulated 9407 runs at a strike rate of 144.74.

Buttler has been exceptional in the international arena and destroyed bowling attacks for fun. The 32-year-old has featured in 106 T20Is and accumulated 2713 runs at a dazzling strike rate of 144.07, which includes a century and 20 half-centuries.

Buttler was quite magnificent in the 2022 T20 World Cup as well. The England skipper hammered 225 runs in six matches at an excellent strike rate of 144.23. Also, the Taunton-born was brilliant with his tactics on the field and shepherded England to their second T20 World Cup victory.

5. Brendon McCullum

<p>HAMILTON, NEW ZEALAND – FEBRUARY 08: Brendon McCullum of the Black Caps watches another ball go for four runs during the 3rd One Day International cricket match between the New Zealand Black Caps and Australia at Seddon Park on February 8, 2016 in Hamilton, New Zealand. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)</p>

Brendon McCullum was a behemoth in the shortest format of the game. During his playing days, he was renowned for his fearless style of cricket and used to put bowling line-ups under the pump with his innovative stroke play. The Dunedin-born played 370 T20 games and amassed 9922 runs at a strike rate of 136.49.

McCullum also showed his class in the international arena. He was a match-winner with the bat and played many breathtaking knocks for the Blackcaps. The former wicketkeeper-batter featured in 71 T20Is and scored 2140 runs at a strike rate of 136.21 which comprises two centuries and 13 half-centuries.

McCullum was a superstar of the game and whenever the former Kiwi batter stepped onto the cricket field, he made fans sit on the edge of their seats. McCullum brought the curtains down on his international career on February 2016. He bid adieu to all forms of cricket in 2019.

4. David Warner

David Warner. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Australia has produced many match-winners and David Warner certainly features among the top ranks of those players. The 36-year-old has represented the national side on 141 occasions in the 50-over format and notched up 6007 runs at a strike rate of 95.25.

Talking about T20Is, Warner has been a mainstay of the Australian batting line-up for over a decade and has been a run-bank with the bat at the top of the order. The southpaw has featured in 99 T20Is and aggregated 2894 runs at a superb strike rate of 141.30.

Warner took the T20 World Cup 2021 by storm with his performance. He played seven matches at the marquee tournament and hammered 289 runs at a strike rate of 146.70. His batting exploits were instrumental in Australia grabbing the silverware.

3. Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma 2. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Rohit Sharma is one of those players who have made heads turn every time he has stepped onto the cricket field. The ace batter has put up an exhibition of his glorious stroke play and provided the Men in Blue with crackling starts on a consistent basis.

Rohit is the second-highest run-getter in T20 Internationals. The 35-year-old has featured in 148 matches and plundered 3853 runs at a strike rate of 139.24 which includes four centuries and 29 half-centuries. Also, he is the most prolific six-hitter in the format having hammered an insane tally of 182 maximums.

Rohit’s best often comes out against West Indies. He has featured in 22 T20Is against the Caribbean side and amassed 693 runs at a strike rate of 142.88. Besides his batting prowess, the veteran batter is an astute tactician of the game and has displayed his captaincy credentials time and again in the IPL and the international arena.

2. Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Chris Gayle is one of the greatest batters to have ever existed in the shortest format of the game. He has destroyed bowling attacks with his power-hitting might and made T20 circuit his happy hunting ground. The 43-year-old featured in 463 T20 games, racking up a staggering tally of 14562 runs at a strike rate of 144.75.

Gayle displayed his batting prowess in the international arena as well. Featuring in 79 T20Is, he aggregated 1899 runs at a strike rate of 137.50 which includes two centuries and 14 half-centuries. The southpaw is known to hit sixes at will and has a total of 124 T20I maximums to his name.

Gayle played a vital role in West Indies’ T20 World Cup triumphs in 2012 and 2016. In the sixth edition of the T20 carnival, the Jamaica-born even recorded the fastest ton in the history of the T20 World Cup as he breached the 100-run mark in just 47 deliveries against England in March 2016. Given the kind of impact Gayle has had in the T20 circuit, he is fondly known as “the Universe Boss”.

1. Virat Kohli

Virat kohli. (Photo Source: BCCI)

Virat Kohli is one of the finest batters in world cricket at the moment. He has been a mainstay of the Indian batting line-up for over a decade, piling up truckloads of runs across formats. ODI cricket has been his strongest suit where he has notched up 12813 runs in 272 matches at an average of 57.45.

Kohli has shown his batting masterclass in the shortest format too. The Delhi-born has featured in 115 T20Is and amassed 4008 runs at a strike rate of 137.96, which includes one century and 37 half-centuries. His insane tally of runs is the most by any batter in the format.

Kohli is known to be at his absolute best in ICC tournaments. In T20 World Cups, he has plundered 1141 runs in 27 matches at a strike rate of 131.30. The veteran batter was in his element in the 2022 T20 World Cup and was the highest run-getter of the tournament, scoring 296 runs in six matches.

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