COC Presents All-Time Team India T20I XI

Team COC brings to you the All-Time best Indian players in T20I format.

The Indian team was probably one of the last teams to adopt the shortest format of cricket, the T20 Internationals. While most of the teams played their first T20Is in 2005, India played theirs in late 2006 against South Africa. This was also the only T20I match that Sachin Tendulkar played and incidentally, the captain of the team was not MS Dhoni, but it was Virender Sehwag.

India then received a boost in form of their performance in the first ever ICC World T20 2007, which they won under the leadership of MS Dhoni, who captained a bunch of youngsters, as the senior players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, and Anil Kumble excused themselves from this format.

Since then, India has played 115 T20I matches, winning 70, losing 41 and a winning percentage of 62.49. India has also reached the finals of the World T20 twice, winning the tournament in 2007, as mentioned above and was defeated by Sri Lanka in 2014 in Bangladesh in the finals. India’s highest score in the format is 260/5 against Sri Lanka in Indore in 2017 and lowest is 74 against Australia in Melbourne in 2008.

Taking everything into consideration, Team COC presents to you the all-time Indian T20I XI.

ROHIT SHARMA
2331 runs in 94 T20Is, 4x100s, 16x50s, HS: 118, SR: 137.68Rohit Sharma is the leading run-getter in the format both for India and overall. He is also the only batsman to hit four centuries in the format, with his highest score of 118 coming against Sri Lanka in a run fest in Indore, where India put up 260/5. His century in that innings came off just 35 balls, making it the joint fastest century in T20Is, tying Rohit with David Miller.

Rohit Sharma has also shown capable leadership qualities in the format, as he won India their first triangular T20I competition in Sri Lanka, the Nidahas Trophy in 2018. Also, Rohit is the only Indian batsman to hit over 100 (102) sixes in the T20Is.

SHIKHAR DHAWAN
1310 runs in 50 T20Is, 9x50s, HS: 92, SR: 130.47

Shikhar Dhawan might not have been as destructive as his opening partner Rohit in the format, but he has held his own at the other end. He has the highest score of 92, that came against West Indies recently and he also scored two fifties against Australia in the three-match T20I series in last 2018.

VIRAT KOHLI
2263 runs in 67 T20Is, 20x50s, HS: 90*, SR: 137.40
Virat Kohli has shown to the cricket fans that you don’t need big sixes in order to become one of the highest run-getters in the format. Though he has 54 sixes and 223 fours to his name, Kohli has used his no.3 position wisely, keeping the scoring rate up by taking the singles and twos in the middle overs with an odd boundary here and there.

Two of his best innings came against Australia, one in the 2016 World T20, when he took India to an impossible looking win and another in the Adelaide Oval, batting first when he scored his T20I career-best 90*.

Also, Virat Kohli is the only player to win two back-to-back Player of the Tournament awards in World T20 competition. He won the awards in 2014 and 2016 editions. He is also one of the two batsmen to average over 50 in the format.

SURESH RAINA
1605 runs in 78 T20Is, 1x100s, 5x50s, HS: 101, SR: 134.87
Suresh Raina holds the record for being the first Indian batsman to score a century in T20Is and the only Indian to score a century in a World T20 tournament. One of the earliest T20 stars, Raina took full advantage of his position in the batting order, plundering spinners and fast bowlers alike. His electric fielding made him an indispensable member of the team during the early half of India’s T20I journey.

YUVRAJ SINGH
1177 runs in 58 T20Is, 8x50s, HS: 77*, SR: 136.38

Perhaps the first Indian superstar in T20I format, Yuvraj Singh set the stage alight in the 2007 ICC World T20, when he slammed Stuart Broad for six sixes in six balls in an over and became the first batsman to do so in T20I cricket.

He then played a blinder of an innings against Australia in the semi-finals and took India to their first finals in the tournament. Yuvraj has shown an affinity towards the Australian team, making the majority of his runs against them. He has also hit 74 sixes in the T20I format and was a force to reckon with at one point of time.

MS DHONI (C&WK)
1617 runs in 98 T20Is, 2x50s, HS: 56, SR: 126.13

Though MS Dhoni’s T20I numbers might not shine as much as his Test and ODI numbers, it is to his credit that Indian team is a force in the T20I format despite being one of the last teams to adapt to the format in 2006.

He played in India’s very first T20I in 2006 and led India to the World T20 2007 title and to the finals of the World T20 2014. MS Dhoni has already had two unforgettable moments in the World T20s, one being lifting the trophy in 2007 and another being his runout of Mustafizur Rahman in the World T20 2016 match against Bangladesh, which India won by one run.

HARDIK PANDYA
296 runs & 36 wkts in 38 T20Is, HS: 33*, BB: 4/38, SR: 154.16
Hardik Pandya makes it into the all-time Indian T20I XI thanks to the impact he has had with the bat and the damage he can do as an all-rounder. He has played 38 T20Is for India and has made 296 runs and picked 36 wickets. However, as a fielder also, Pandya has had a brilliant impact for the field. And no one can forget his last over against Bangladesh in the World T20 2016 match in Bengaluru, which India won by 1 run.

BHUVNESHWAR KUMAR
36 wkts in 28 T20Is, BB: 5/24, ECO: 6.97
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is widely regarded as one of the best opening and death bowlers in the T20 format. He has used his IPL experience wisely in international T20Is and has 36 wickets in 28 T20Is to his name. He became the first Indian bowler to pick a five-wicket haul in all the three formats of international cricket when he picked 5/24 against South Africa in a T20I in 2018.

KULDEEP YADAV
35 wkts in 18 T20Is, BB: 5/24, ECO: 6.72
One of the revelations of 2017, Kuldeep Yadav has become the go-to man whenever the Indian captain wants a wicket in the match. The left-arm chinaman bowler has picked 35 wickets in just 18 T20Is and that includes a fifer against England which he took in 2018.

YUZVENDRA CHAHAL
46 wkts in 31 T20Is, BB: 6/25, ECO: 8.00
Yuzvendra Chahal was rewarded with a T20I call up in 2016 against Zimbabwe after performing well in the IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore. However, his moment of fame came in the third T20I against England in 2017 series at home, when he recorded the best bowling figures by an Indian in T20Is, as he picked 6/25.

Chahal is only the second bowler after Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis, who has two six-wicket hauls, to pick a 6-fer in T20Is.

JASPRIT BUMRAH
51 wkts in 42 T20Is, BB: 3/11, ECO: 6.71
Jasprit Bumrah recently completed 50 wickets in T20Is against Australia and is just two wickets shy of breaking R Ashwin’s record of 52 wickets for India in T20Is.

Bumrah broke onto the scene of cricket for Mumbai Indians in the IPL and from then on, was fast-tracked into the Indian team, making his debut in T20Is in 2016 against Australia in Australia. Since then he has become India’s crown jewel with the ball in all the three formats. His ability to ball yorkers and pick wickets whenever called on has made him a permanent member of the Indian team.