Dubai: Cricket’s biggest T20I party started in 2007, which was won by Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led India in Johannesburg after they defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in a final-over thriller by five runs.
Since that inaugural event, there have been seven further editions of the tournament, held in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2021, and 2022.
India’s T20I captain Rohit Sharma is set to lead the side in the upcoming tournament in West Indies and USA, making his record ninth appearance in the tournament. He will be joined by Bangladesh’s star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who is the only other player in the list to have featured in all the editions of the event.
The Tigers are yet to announce their 15-member squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, and should Shakib be selected, he would join Rohit as the only players to have competed in every T20 World Cup, sharing that honour.
Another record that belongs to India’s Rohit – the most number of Men’s T20 World Cup matches with 39 games under his belt. Following closely behind him is Shakib with 36 appearances.
Among the active players, next on the list is David Warner, the Aussie opener, who is poised to climb higher in the upcoming edition. As the competition intensifies, changes to this leaderboard are expected in the tournament to come.
India superstar Virat Kohli tops the list for the most runs in T20 World Cups, accounting for 1141 runs in five editions. He was the highest run-getter in the 2014 edition with 319 runs in six matches – the highest by any batter in a single Men’s T20 World Cup, an ICC report said.
Kohli is currently in exceptional form in the ongoing Indian Premier League, leading the run-scorers chart with more than 500 runs. If the battling stalwart maintains this rich vein of form in the upcoming tournament, he will elevate his tally to another level.
Another active player on this elite list is Kohli’s teammate and India captain, Rohit. The opening batter is not very far behind Kohli, sitting in fourth spot with 963 runs. A series of explosive innings from him could propel him to a higher rank on this list.
Among the top five wicket-takers, which mainly consists of four spin-bowling experts, Bangladesh’s left-arm spinner Shakib holds a substantial lead. He is the sole active player within this elite group and will feature in the upcoming tournament in June after being announced in the squad. Three
more scalps will take his tally to a remarkable 50 T20 World Cup wickets.
Sri Lanka’s former pace sensation Lasith Malinga is the only pacer in this top five, sitting in the third spot with 38 scalps.
Former Black Caps captain and explosive batter Brendon McCullum still holds the record for the highest score by an individual in Men’s T20 World Cups. He broke Chris Gayle’s record from 2007
in the 2012 tournament. His blazing knock was studded with 11 fours and seven sixes.
Gayle is the only batter to have made two Men’s T20 World Cup hundreds, reaching the milestone for the second time during West Indies’ successful run in 2016.
West Indies’ swashbuckling batter Gayle set the record for the fastest hundred in the tournament’s inaugural edition by reaching the landmark in just 50 balls. New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum came close but fell marginally behind from making that record his own.
Gayle outdid himself by setting a new record when he scored his second T20 World Cup century in 2016 against England during the group stages. He surpassed his previous record of a 50-ball century set in 2007 by achieving a remarkable feat in just 47 balls – an achievement that remains unmatched to this day.
The West Indies legend stands out remarkably when it comes to hitting massive sixes on the T20 World Cup stage. Gayle is way ahead of the second-best player on the list, India’s Rohit, by a significant margin in terms of the most sixes hit by a batter in the tournament’s history.
India’s Yuvraj Singh, who hit the famous six sixes in an over in the 2007 edition off Stuart Broad also features in the top five.
Among the active players, in this eye-catching list, are India captain Rohit, England captain Jos Buttler and Australia opener Warner. One could expect a fiercely contested battle for these top positions in the upcoming World Cup, with all the three star batters capable of smashing explosive sixes.
Two Sri Lanka spin maestros – right-arm off-spinner Ajantha Mendis and left-arm spinner Rangana Herath – top the list for registering the best bowling figures in a T20 World Cup game. Mendis is the only bowler to have claimed a six-wicket haul in the tournament and his record spell of 6/8 remains the best innings figures since 2012.
In this list, two active players, England all-rounder Sam Curran and Australia’s ace spinner Adam Zampa recorded exceptional figures in recent World Cups.
T20 World Cup-winning India captain Dhoni is the record-holder of the most number of dismissals
by a wicket-keeper in the tournament. His 32 dismissals comprise of 21 catches and 11 stumpings.
His 21 catches as the designated wicket-keeper are also the most in Men’s T20 World Cups while Pakistan’s Kamran Akmal, who sits right behind Dhoni with 30 dismissals, holds the record for most number of stumpings (18).
South Africa’s AB de Villiers with the safest hands in Men’s T20 World Cups tops the list for the most catches in the tournament by a (non-wicketkeeper) fielder. Australia’s Warner is right behind and may surpass de Villiers’ tally of 23 during the 2024 tournament.
Additionally, two exceptional fielders, Glenn Maxwell and Rohit, could advance in this rankings along with joint fifth-placed Kane Williamson, with all three named in their respective T20 World Cup squads.
