Top 5 T20 Players of all time

T20 cricket is one of the fastest growing sporting formats across the globe. Its initiation was an experiment which changed the perception of the game forever.

A new journey began on 17 February 2005, when Newzealand and Australia played their first T20I game and year after year, it has compelled everyone to take a bow and gaze at the beauty of this game.

Every format of the game has produced a hero and when it comes to T20, the story is no different.

Here we have listed the top 5 T20 players of all time:

#5 Dwayne Bravo

West Indies are more or less the evident masters of this format and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Dwayne Bravo makes it to the list. A lower order explosive batsman and a middle order wicket-taking bowler, Bravo can deliver whatever is expected of him.

Bravo has scored 2554 runs in 188 games with an average of around 24. Moreover, he has taken 188 wickets in the format and he’s certainly one of the most complete players to have ever graced the game.

Bravo recently won the IPL with CSK, a trophy which he had previously won with CSK in the 4th season of IPL. Bravo has also won the Purple Cap twice, the award for the best wicket-taker in the IPL. He also made his mark with his exceptional skills at the death overs in the T20 World Cup for the West Indies.

Dwayne Bravo has also played in one season in PSL for the team Lahore Qalandars.

#4 Brendon McCullum

Baz himself has played 180 T20 games in his career. The wicketkeeper-batsman is known for his explosive batting anywhere in the batting order.

McCullum’s century for KKR is considered to be one of the turning points of the Indian Premier League as it laid the foundation brick for the success story of the cash-rich league.

Baz has scored more than 5000 runs in international and IPL combined with a combined average over 30, the 50 of T20s. Baz has also 4 centuries in this format, a feat still difficult in the game.

Baz has been an IPL winner with CSK and KKR. International success has evaded him but that shouldn’t take away anything from a T20 great.

He also plays for Lahore Qalandars in PSL.

#3 Sunil Narine

Another West Indies player on the list is Sunil Narine who has changed the views of people who used to think that specialist bowlers can’t bat.

In 146 matches, Narine has picked up 162 wickets with an impressive economy rate. With the bat too, his exploits earned him the award of best strike rate in the IPL where he scored nearly 400 runs for Kolkata Knight Riders.

He has scored more than 850 runs overall in the format.

Unfortunately, Narine couldn’t taste success when West Indies won T20 world cup as he was went to focus on rehabilitation of his bowling action ahead of the tournament.

#2 Lasith Malinga

Slinga Malinga was one of the best T20 bowlers at the peak of his prowess, both for MI and Sri Lanka.

His slinging action and death over bowling in T20 helped him do wonders in the shorter format of the game.

In 178 International and IPL games, Malinga has claimed 244 scalps. His deceptive slow balls and his ability to adapt has always made him stand apart from the rest.

A multiple title winner with both Sri Lankan National team, T20 WC 2014 and MI, Malinga would always be fondly remembered for the menace that he created with his bowling spells.

#1 Chris Gayle

The best for the last? Probably. Chris Gayle is possibly the most dangerous batsman to have ever played this format.

His tall stature, his effortless bat swing made it look all so easy to the fans and agonizing to the bowlers. His flamboyance added to his cricket has made him a world favorite.

The 38-year-old has unbelievable feats to his name when it comes to competitive T20.

Gayle has scored 5583 runs in 167 matches with a strike rate of nearly 150. He has also hit 395 sixes in those matches a figure a little below his 4s count. His average has been impeccable as well with him averaging 37 each game. He has scored eight centuries in this format.

Gayle has won the T20 WC with West Indies but success in the IPL has always evaded him. He will go down in the history as the ‘Universe Boss’ who ruled the format.