Top 5 T20I batsmen of the decade

When the decade began, T20 cricket was still finding its feet in the cricket world. Even though T20 was an instant success among fans, it was yet to be seen if it survives in the long run or not. And now that the decade is about to end, it is safe to say that T20 cricket is here to stay.

There was a lot of speculation that T20 will corrode the skills of the cricketers and prove detrimental for cricketers as it is more of a 'hit and miss' game. However, T20 has evolved over time and has helped players all around the world to hone their skills.

T20 cricket was initially considered to be a batsman's game, but as time has gone by, the bowlers have become smarter and found ways of restricting batsmen from scoring quick runs. The batsmen have also tried to counter them by manufacturing new shots and finding ways to score runs. The tussle between the bowlers and the batsmen has produced memorable nerve-wracking matches. Here are the 5 best T20 batsmen of the decade.

#5 Martin Guptill (Matches - 71, Runs - 2197, Average - 34.87, Strike-rate - 136.29)

Martin Guptill

Martin Guptill has played some swashbuckling knocks for New Zealand at the top of the order. Despite opening the innings with someone like Brendon McCullum, Guptill was able to hold his own and impress everyone with his clean striking. The tall Kiwi opener always took the attack to the opposition and scored quick runs in the powerplays.

Follow Sportskeeda for more Cricket news.

Initially, the right-hander was considered to be susceptible to quality spin bowling but with time Guptill has been able to improve on that aspect of his batting as well. A career strike-rate of 134.59 is a testimony of his batting prowess in the T20 format.

#4 Glenn Maxwell (Matches - 60, Runs - 1576, Average - 35.02, Strike-rate - 160)

Glenn Maxwell

Glenn Maxwell is probably the first T20 specialist batsman of our times. Maxwell came into limelight because of the sensational hitting talent that he displayed on the Australian domestic circuit. He then became the favourite of all franchise teams in various T20 leagues.

Fearless is the word that is normally associated with Maxwell's batting. The Australian all-rounder has annihilated opposition bowling attacks with his aggressive batting. Not afraid of playing big shots right from the word go, Maxwell boasts a career strike-rate of 160. Making his international T20 debut in 2012, throughout his career Maxwell has been criticised for playing reckless cricket. However, that hasn't stopped the 'Big show', as he is famously called, from playing his natural game. An integral part of Australia's T20 squad, Maxwell will be crucial to his team's chances in the World T20 2020.

#3 Aaron Finch (Matches - 58, Runs - 1878, Average - 38.33, Strike-rate - 156.50)

Aaron Finch

Glenn Maxwell's T20I and ODI skipper, Aaron Finch is one of the most underrated T20 batsmen in the world. The presence of big-hitters like David Warner, Glenn Maxwell and Chris Lynn in the side often makes Finch's performances go unnoticed. But Finch's T20I numbers are just phenomenal. An average of over 38 and a strike-rate of over 156 is just what you can ask for from your opening batsman.

The right-hand batsman began his T20I career in 2012. Finch has played some stunning innings in his T20 career and is the only batsman to score more than 150 runs in an innings twice. He first achieved this feat in 2013 when he scored 156 runs against England. He bettered his previous score by hitting 172 runs against Zimbabwe in 2018. Finch still holds the record of the highest score by an individual in T20 internationals.

#2 Rohit Sharma (Matches - 87, Runs - 2298, Average - 32.36, Strike-rate - 138.69)

Rohit Sharma

There were never any doubts about Rohit Sharma's talent since the time he first burst into the scene in 2007. In fact, it was the T20 format that made him an overnight star. Rohit played some crucial innings for the Men in Blue in the inaugural World T20 that was held in South Africa in 2007.

Unfortunately, Rohit failed to perform as per expectations in the first few years of his career and was in and out of the side. However, things changed for him once he started opening in the limited-overs. Not only in ODI cricket but even in T20 cricket, Rohit found his touch at the top of the order. The Mumbai lad started to dominate the bowlers and batted freely in T20s once he was given the license to go after the bowling right from the beginning. Rohit is also the only player to have 4 T20 international centuries to his name. He is also the leading run-getter in T20Is.

#1 Virat Kohli (Matches - 72, Runs - 2450, Average - 50, Strike rate - 135.28)

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli is undoubtedly one of the modern greats of the game. The Indian skipper has proved his mettle in every format. Kohli's hunger for runs has just increased with time and he has been exceptional across formats. Talking about his T20 record, Kohli averages more than 50 which shows the amount of consistency that he has maintained even in a format where batsmen often throw away their wickets in a bid to get quick runs. Having said that, Kohli also possesses a strong strike-rate of over 135 which means he has kept churning out runs in the middle-overs.

In order to manage his workload, Kohli has often been rested for T20 matches, but with the World T20 coming up next year, expect Kohli to be a regular feature in India's T20 squad. With the kind of form Kohli currently is in, expect some more runs from the batting wizard in the T20 format.