Top five 30-plus T20 specialists - Batsmen

Owais Shah (6 Tests; Batting Average – 26.90, 192 192 T20s, Strike Rate – 126.80) – If he wanted to, Shah could have had a fulfilling Test match career for two countries thanks to his immense potential, birthright to Pakistan and England’s tendency to ignore the Tibbit Test. Instead he chose the path oft taken as he completed a total of 6 Tests at a batting average in the 20s and no centuries.

When Wisden praises your “abundant promise”, it becomes a heavy burden to carry and lesser mortals than Shah drop it. Glimpses of that “abundant promise” though flashed through from time to time right from his international debut in 2001 to his Test debut against India in Mumbai where he scored a sterling 88 in a historic series-squaring victory for England.

He continued to remain ho-hum over the next three years till it appeared that he had apparently rediscovered his mojo with a picture-perfect knock of 98 off 89 in the 2009 Champions Trophy. That series turned out to be his last as England, under a new regime, went for a complete overhaul which brought them success in the limited overs formats where they had always been traditional laggards.

Ironically enough, Shah came back into the news as a T20 specialist – he had changed four teams in the first five years of the IPL. He is a rare sight to watch when in full flow – a batsman capable enough to devastate with minimum effort and an array of eye-catching strokes. Only if it had come earlier in the day.