Sportskeeda's T20I XI of 2017

With New Zealand beating the West Indies by 47 runs at Nelson on Friday, December 29, we are done with the Twenty20 Internationals for the year 2017.

While Sri Lanka played the maximum 15 T20Is in 2017 and won just five, India registered most wins by being victorious in nine of their 13 twenty-over games this year.

Pakistan, Afghanistan and West Indies played 10 T20Is each, winning eight, seven and six games, respectively.

Since the teams from the Indian subcontinent played the maximum number of T20Is this year, naturally the players from these countries dominated the shortest format of the game.

Now, let's have a look at Sportskeeda's Twenty20 International XI for the year 2017, where the impact made by these particular players is the main criteria for their inclusion.

Opening batsmen

Evin Lewis (West Indies)

This year's leading run-getter in T20Is, Evin Lewis, is an obvious choice to open the innings as he scored 357 runs in nine matches and hit the maximum 31 sixes in 2017.

Despite a string of low scores from the young opener, the West Indies won every time Lewis scored fifty or more in 2017.

The 26-year-old, who hit a ton and two T20I fifties in 2017, brought up his highest score in the shortest format of the game when he smashed 125 not out from 62 balls against India in July.

Lewis' top score was the highest by a batsman in a T20I run-chase and he also became the third player after Brendon McCullum and Chris Gayle to hit more than one century in the twenty-over format.

Rohit Sharma (India)

Once Rohit Sharma gets going, there is nothing stopping him and that is why he would make an ideal partner for Lewis to open the innings with.

Rohit was having a woeful year as far as T20Is were concerned, as he managed to score just 138 runs in 7 innings, but, the recently-concluded three-match series against Sri Lanka changed the Hitman's fortunes.

In the second match, Rohit brought up his second ton in the shortest format of the game in 35 balls, the joint-fastest T20I hundred and fastest by an Indian.

He equalled the record of David Miller, who achieved the feat against Bangladesh at Potchefstroom in October 2017.

Rohit brought up his highest T20I score of 118 off 43 balls including 12 fours and ten sixes and ended the year with 283 runs in nine matches.

Middle-order batsmen

Virat Kohli (India)

With 299 runs in 10 matches, Virat Kohli is India's leading T20I run-scorer in 2017. Kohli, who broke numerous batting records at will in the last twelve months, was at his imperious best in the shortest format of the game as well.

The 29-year-old overtook Sri Lanka's Tillakaratne Dilshan to become the second highest run-scorer in T20Is and also became the third batsman overall and first Indian to hit 200 fours in the shortest format of the game.

The Team India skipper, who made his T20I debut in 2010, also brought up the most number of 50-plus scores in twenty-over format, with 18 to his name.

Shoaib Malik (Pakistan)

Shoaib Malik, Pakistan's specialist in the shortest format of the game, leapfrogged Umar Akmal and became his country's leading run-scorer in the T20Is with 1,821 runs in 92 matches.

Malik, who recently hit six sixes in an over during a ten-over charity match, holds the record of being part of most T20I wins during his career.

In 2017, Malik scored 273 runs in 10 matches and also became the second Pakistani player after Shahid Afridi to hit 200-plus sixes in twenty-over cricket during the third T20I against World XI at Lahore.

AB de Villiers (South Africa)

The quintessential limited-overs middle-order batsman AB de Villiers is an automatic selection for this spot.

With 304 runs in seven matches, De Villiers recorded an average of 50.66 and an enviable strike rate of 152.00.

The 33-year-old's highest T20I score of the year came in June against England at Southampton when he remained unbeaten on 65 off 58 balls.

AB, who has ten T20I fifties under her belt, scored two of them in 2017.

Wicket-keeper and all-rounder

MS Dhoni (India)

With speculations around his playing future to perennial arguments floating over his batting position, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s career is put under the scanner quite often.

However, for Dhoni, it has always been business as usual without paying any heeds to criticism.

Even after 13 years in international cricket, Dhoni is a livewire behind the stumps and has the ability to shock batsmen with his lightning fast speed.

The leading wicketkeeper of 2017 with 13 dismissals, went past AB de Villiers' record for most dismissals in 20-over international cricket during the T20I at Cuttack against Sri Lanka, taking his tally to 74, one more than the South African's record.

With 138 catches, Dhoni tops the list of most catches by a wicketkeeper in the shortest format of the game.

In addition to his phenomenal glovework, the 36-year-old remained an important fixture in India's middle-order as he scored 252 runs in 13 T20Is at a strike-rate of 138.46

Thisara Perera (Sri Lanka)

Although Sri Lanka had quite a forgettable 2017, their limited-overs skipper, Thisara Perera, topped the list of bowling all-rounders as he scored 171 runs and claimed 13 wickets in 12 matches.

The highlight of Perera's career in 2017 was his stint with the World XI during the Independence Cup in Pakistan.

In the second T20I of the series, the 28-year-old claimed a couple of wickets and scored an unbeaten 19-ball 47 runs, consisting five huge sixes, and led the visitors to a seven-wicket win.

The lower-order batsman ended the tournament with most wickets (six) and scored the second-highest number of runs (96) at a staggering strike-rate of 223.25.

Spinners

Yuzvendra Chahal (India)

Yuzvendra Chahal, who is the only Indian player to take three four-wicket hauls in T20Is, picked up eight wickets in the series against Sri Lanka and became the highest wicket-taker in twenty-over cricket in 2017 with 23 scalps in 11 matches.

With his career-best bowling figures of 6/25 against England in February this year, Chahal became the first Indian bowler to record a five-wicket haul in T20s.

Chahal, who is only the second bowler after Sri Lanka's Ajantha Mendis to snare six wickets in an innings in T20Is, has been instrumental in India's success in the limited-overs cricket with his innovative leg spin bowling.

Rashid Khan (Afghanistan)

Afghanistan's leg-spin sensation, Rashid Khan, who was picked by Sunrisers Hyderabad for a whooping sum of INR 4 crore, created a world record by claiming the fastest five-wicket haul of all time.

In a mind-boggling spell of just 12 balls, the 19-year-old leg-spinner registered sensational figures of 5/3 to demolish Ireland and extended Afghanistan’s record streak of 10 victories in the shortest format of the game.

Rashid Khan, who became the youngest cricketer to take 100 T20 wickets, finished the year as the third-highest wicket-taker in T20Is with 17 scalps in 10 matches.

Fast bowlers and 12th man

Kesrick Williams (West Indies)

Kesrick Williams, who gave Virat Kohli a send-off which he will never forget during the one-off T20 International in Jamaica earlier this year, ended the year as the second highest wicket-taker in the shortest format of the game.

With 18 wickets in 10 matches, Williams emerged as the most successful pacer of 2017 in twenty-over cricket.

The 27-year-old was particularly impressive in the three-match series against Afghanistan where he took eight wickets and helped the hosts clinch the series 3-0.

Jasprit Bumrah (India)

Jasprit Bumrah, who was the leading wicket-taker in the shortest format of the game in 2016, did not fail to impress in 2017 as well.

Although he is the eight-highest wicket-taker in T20Is this year, his ability to take wickets in the death overs makes him quite indispensable for India in limited-overs cricket.

Bumrah, who became the top-ranked bowler in T20Is in October this year, ended the year on the third spot with 12 wickets in 11 matches.

Babar Azam (Pakistan)

With 352 runs in 10 matches, Babar Azam scored the most T20I runs in 2017 by a Pakistani cricketer and second most in the world

The top-order batsman, scored 179 in the three-match series against the West Indies earlier this year to top the list of Pakistani players scoring most runs in a bi-lateral T20I series.

Babar, who was the highest run-scorer in the world after 11 T20I innings, recently slammed 26-ball ton in a T10 charity game.

Sportskeeda's T20I XI of 2017: Evin Lewis, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (C), Shoaib Malik, AB de Villiers, MS Dhoni (WK), Thisara Perera, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rashid Khan, Kesrick Williams, Jasprit Bumrah

Babar Azam (12th Man)