Cricket in 2020 was marked by bio bubble restrictions and lack of matches for the players to prove their worth and make their presence feel at the highest levels of the game in cricket. While these adverse circumstances led to many top-performing teams and individuals lose form and in turn, not do well.

There were certain players who made the best out of these changes and showed the world that no matter what the circumstances, their numbers did not go down and their team continued to do well and win matches. So, here’s a look at an XI made out of such players who were the torchbearers for their team in this year and topped the charts when it came down to their own numbers in T20I format.

Best T20I XI of 2020

1. KL Rahul (India)

In T20 cricket, the year 2020 brought in a lot of great news for KL Rahul. He did exceedingly well for his national team and his run in the Indian Premier League, on a personal level was also great as he was the highest run-getter of the tournament.

While with the Indian team in 2020, he scored 404 runs in 11 matches, while maintaining an average of 44.89 and a strike rate of 140.77, showing the level of damage he is capable of doing with the bat in hand.

He also got the duty of keeping the wickets for the team in 8 matches, where he was responsible for 5 dismissals in total. So, going into 2021 he would be hoping to carry his luck and form forward and do well in the important tournaments that are line up one after the other throughout the year.

2. Jos Buttler (England)

Since the day he has become a mainstay of the England national cricket team, there have been seldom occasions in white-ball cricket, especially when Jos Buttler has not risen up to the occasion for his team and contributed, either as a wicket-keeper or a batsman.

During the course of this year, his services both in front and behind the wickets were enjoyed thoroughly by the English team as he scored a total of 291 runs at an excellent strike rate of 150.78 and as a wicketkeeper was involved in 9 dismissals in the 8 matches he played in.

With a tour to India and other major competitions lined up for the year 2021, the fiery English T20 opener would want to carry his form through over to the other side and make sure his team does well.

3. Dawid Malan (England)

The second player from the England team to make it into this list, at the number 3 slot, the one which he covers while playing for the national team too is Malan. Malan during the course of this year, whose numbers were an accurate representation of his impact with the bat was surely worth talking about.

Dawid Malan made sure on several occasions that he carried his national team through to a winning finish with the bat as he continued to impress everyone with his skills as a batsman.

While averaging at an impressive 49.63, he scored 397 runs in 10 matches, showing that he has a lot of potential stored in him for becoming a great in white-ball cricket for England. And, all he has to do is to continue to score consistently and make sure that his presence is felt on the cricket field every time he takes the field.

4. Mohammad Hafeez (Pakistan)

The highest run-getter in the year 2020, Mohammad Hafeez while playing for Pakistan scored 415 runs in the 10 matches that he played and showed the world in the truest sense that for him, age is just a number and not a factor that would make him incapable of playing at the highest level.

The 40-year-old was sharp on the field while batting and on every occasion that he was out there for Pakistan with the bat. His impact on their inning and much of the team’s success in T20 cricket this year could very well be attributed to his run as a batsman.

He brought on the table, everything that a team would need to be successful, experience as a player that could guide his team to wins, and personal performances that could boost their totals while batting.

5. Quinton de Kock (South Africa)

Quinton de Kock’s contributions as a player in recent years, across the formats and his success as a player has gone hand in hand with the team’s success as a whole. And, in 2020 de Kock was one of the few players of the team that carried the team forward and made sure that they put up a fight in each game they played, if not win it.

As a wicket-keeper too, he was pretty successful and provided the bowlers with a sense of reassurance that if there was a chance for a dismissal behind the wickets, he would complete it.

As a batsman, he scored 285 runs in 9 matches and maintained a class-leading strike rate of 170.66, and as wicketkeeper followed these numbers up by being responsible for 6 dismissals, 5 of which were caught behind and 1 stumping. The South African team would want to enjoy his services as much as they can, during the course of 2021 as new possibilities and promise comes up the horizon for everyone.

6. Glenn Maxwell (Australia)

Undoubtedly one of the best players of white-ball cricket, especially 20 over matches to come out of Australia, Glenn Maxwell in this year started to flourish late, but when he did, the opposition team had no answers to his exploits as a player, which in turn helped his team tackle challenges with ease.

While his numbers with the bat may not be impressive, the timing of his runs coming in was really good and that was what caused him to be appreciated in the cricketing circles.

Placed at the second spot in the ICC all-rounder’s rankings, Maxwell played 6 T20I matches this year and scored a total of 111 runs and to add the icing to the cake, also took 3 wickets at an economy of 7.67 runs per over, thus proving his worth as an all-rounder for his national team.

7. Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan)

A true rock star of T20 cricket at the moment, a player who has proven his prowess in this format and has led his team from the front as a player. Mohammad Nabi who is the only player from Afghanistan to make it into this XI, truly deserves a place in every best T20 XI made for the year 2020.

His numbers in every sense show how capable he is, as a T20 player, and it is the kind of impact he has had on the Afghanistan team, that makes him as big a player he is in the shortest format of cricket.

Ranked as the top all-rounder in the list of the International Cricket Council, Nabi during the course of the year 2020, time and again proved why the fans and experts of cricket from all over the world hold him in such high regard. With the T20 World Cup lined up for the year 2021, Nabi will want to do well for his team and lead them to the later stages of the tournament.

8. Lungi Ngidi (South Africa)

One of the best pace bowlers to come out of South Africa in the recent times, Lungi Ngidi’s name since his first day in international cricket has been the talk of the town and he has grown as a player over the years and ended this fateful year as the top wicket-taker in T20 Internationals.

He had 17 wickets to his name in the 9 matches that his team played in, and even though his economy rate of 10.47 was on the higher side, the wickets that he took made sure that at no point in time batting became easy for the batsmen facing him.

Having made his T20I debut in the year 2016, Ngidi has spent a considerable amount of time in the international arena to get accustomed to the norms of the level and if his numbers so far are anything to stand by, he is expected to go nowhere but up in the rankings as time passes.

9. Aftab Hussain (Hong Kong)

The only entrant from the Hong Kong team in this list, Aftab Hussain. While playing international cricket for his team during the course of this year, he was one of the most impactful players in the setup of his team.

And his success as a player is clearly reflected in his numbers which have brought him all the way up to the 3^rd spot in the wicket taker’s list of the year 2020 in international cricket.

In the 9 games that he played in, he managed to scalp as many as 15 wickets at a strike rate of 13.6 meaning that his frequency of taking wickets was really one of the best in the business and an economy rate of 6.62 runs to go with it, proved that the batsmen had a hard time facing the bowling of Aftab.

10. Shardul Thakur (India)

Statistically, he is the best bowler for India in international cricket. Shardul Thakur, in the time he spent playing for team India during the year 2020 was really fruitful for him as a player and his success meant that his team’s bowling attack found a player who could lead the pack from the front and guide it through the challenges with ease.

Much of India’s success in T20 cricket this year was because Shardul Thakur came up to save the day on many occasions. And, his numbers of 15 wickets in 10 matches meant that the wickets fell in clusters for the team he was bowling against and this would have surely troubled them.

Thakur did well into the Indian Premier League too and made sure that his body was able to bear all the pressure that pace bowling brought upon it after the lockdown had ended.

11. Haris Rauf (Pakistan)

Pakistan has been known to produce some great pace bowlers over the years and the find of the year from the country for the year 2020 was Haris Rauf, the 27-year-old pacer who ended up being the second-highest wicket-taker of the year, with 16 wickets to his name in 11 matches.

One of the things that worked really well for him was the fact that he was able to maintain control over the movement of the ball, in spite of the fact that he clocked some insane speeds.

And, now with Mohammad Amir gone, it will be his responsibility to take the baton of pace bowling forward for his team and get good results for him as a plethora of new challenges awaits him and his team in the coming year.