The year 2022 is drawing to a close and the format which kept the cricketing fans enthralled was T20Is, given that focus was on the 20-over cricket as it was a T20 World Cup year, which was played in Australia for the first time.
Multiple cricketers had the time of their life in the format and England won their second T20 World Cup title, defeating Pakistan in the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), making them the world champions in both ODIs and T20Is at the same time.
It was difficult to pick out the best performers in T20Is from so many talented names, but the search was narrowed to full-member nations only and Team COC managed to come up with the eleven best T20I players who had a gala time in 2022.
Here is the Team COC’s T20I XI of 2022 (full member nations only):
England captain Jos Buttler took the team to the T20 World Cup glory and also had a very good outing with the bat. He played 15 T20Is and made 462 runs with four half-centuries with the best score of 80* which came in the semi-final of the ICC tournament against India. He hit 49 fours and 18 sixes in the year.
His partner at the top will be Pakistan’s run machine Mohammad Rizwan who missed out on scoring 1000 runs in a calendar year for the second year running, finishing with 996 runs in 25 matches at a strike rate of 122.96 and 10 half-centuries to his name. His highest score was 88* and he hit 78 fours and 22 sixes.
India’s Virat Kohli had a resurgence of his career in 2022 which began with the Asia Cup 2022 where he hit his maiden T20I century against Afghanistan, scoring 122*, and then had an astounding outing in the T20 World Cup, scoring four fifties, finishing the year with 781 runs in 20 matches at an average of 55.78 with 8 fifties apart from that century.
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The year 2022 in T20Is belonged to India’s Suryakumar Yadav, who scored 1164 runs in 31 matches, becoming only the second batter to score 1000+ runs in a calendar year. He also hit two centuries, becoming only the second Indian to do so in one year.
His average was 46.56 and his strike rate was 187.43. He hit 106 fours and 68 sixes in 2022. 
New Zealander Glenn Phillips scored 761 runs in 21 T20I matches in 2022 with one century and 6 half-centuries to his name at a strike rate of 156.33 with 33 sixes and 53 fours.
Hardik Pandya came back to cricket in IPL 2022 after a six-month absence where he worked on his fitness and back issues. He played 27 T20Is and picked 24 wickets including a best of 4/33. With the bat, Pandya made 607 runs with 3 fifties to his name and the best score of 71* at a strike rate of 145.96, hitting 47 fours and 33 sixes in the process.
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Sam Curran of England was another player who returned from a back injury in 2022 and was the Player of the final and Player of the Tournament. He was lethal with the ball in T20Is, picking 25 wickets in 19 matches including a best of 5/10 at an economy of 7.56.
Another player who had an amazing 2022 was Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza who made 735 runs with a best of 87 with a strike rate of 150.92 and picked 25 wickets in 24 T20Is this year.
He was the toast of the T20 World Cup 2022 as well with over 200 runs and 10 wickets to his name and helped Zimbabwe win against Pakistan in the Super 12s stage.
Shadab Khan was the best leg-spinner this year with 25 wickets in 20 T20Is with the best bowling of 4/8 and economy of 6.79. With the bat, he played some crucial knocks, including one against South Africa in the T20 World Cup in a must-win match for the team.
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One of the highest wicket-takers in T20Is in 2022 was Wanindu Hasaranga with 34 scalps in 19 matches, with the best bowling of 4/33, at an economy of just 7.40.
Haris Rauf of Pakistan was one of the best pacers in T20Is this year with 31 wickets in 23 matches at a searing pace. His best was 3/28 and economy of 7.54. His performance against India in a packed MCG gave an advantage to Pakistan in a crunch match.
While these were the best eleven T20I players of 2022, one name requires special attention and that was Arshdeep Singh. The left-handed India pacer made his debut against England this year and played 21 matches, picking 33 wickets with the best bowling of 4/37.
He was the find of the year for India, as his death bowling skills gave the Indian team new options and he started his T20 World Cup career with the wicket of Pakistani star Babar Azam on the first ball of his very first match in the tournament.
COC presents the T20I XI of the year 2022:
Jos Buttler (ENG-C), Mohammad Rizwan (PAK-WK), Virat Kohli (IND), Suryakumar Yadav (IND), Glenn Phillips (NZ), Hardik Pandya (IND), Sikandar Raza (ZIM), Sam Curran (ENG), Shadab Khan (PAK), Wanindu Hasaranga (SL), Haris Rauf (PAK), Arshdeep Singh (IND-12th man)
