ICC Awards 2020: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma nominated for T20I Player of the Decade award

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced its nominations for the player of the decade awards in various categories. For the ICC Men's T20I Player of the Decade, two Indians have been nominated among seven players.

The two Indians on the illustrious list are current captain Virat Kohli and his limited-overs deputy Rohit Sharma.

The other five names on the list are Afghanistan’s spin sensation Rashid Khan, retired South African leggie Imran Tahir, Australia’s limited-overs captain Aaron Finch, Sri Lanka’s fast bowling legend Lasith Malinga and maverick West Indian Chris Gayle.

Impressive T20I records of players nominated for ICC Awards 2020

Lasith Malinga

In 82 T20I games, Kohli has 2794 runs to his name at a strike rate of 138.24 and an average of 50.80. While the Indian captain has 24 fifties to his name in T20Is, he is yet to register a hundred in the format. Kohli’s highest score in the format is 94 not out. However, he has the rare distinction of averaging over 50 in all three formats of the game.

As for Rohit, he has featured in 108 T20Is and has 2773 runs to his name at a strike rate of 138.78 with four hundreds and 21 fifties. Some pundits consider him the greatest Indian T20I player.

Aussie limited-overs captain Finch has blazed his way to 2114 runs in 64 T20Is at an excellent strike rate of 154.64 with two hundreds and two fifties. He holds the record for the highest individual score in T20Is -- 172 against Zimbabwe at Harare in 2018.

Looking at Gayle’s T20I record, he has 1627 runs in 58 T20Is at a strike rate of 142.84 with two hundreds and 13 fifties.

Among the bowlers nominated, 22-year-old Rashid has featured in 48 T20Is and has 89 scalps to his name at an exceptional strike rate of 12.3 and an average of 12.62. His economy rate of 6.14 is also of the top drawer.

Another leggie on the list, Tahir retired with 63 scalps in 38 T20Is at a strike rate of 13.4 and an average of 15.04. The enthusiastic former South African bowler maintained an economy rate of 6.73.

Finally, Malinga featured in 84 T20Is, and picked up 107 wickets at a strike rate of 16.8 and an average of 20.79. His economy rate was slightly high, at 7.42, but there was never any doubt over his wicket-taking ability. His best of 5 for 6 came against the Kiwis at Pallekele last year. He repeated his 2007 World Cup feat of claiming four wickets in four balls.