Ranking India’s top 10 T20I match-winners of all-time

T20I cricket during the time of its inception was never a format which looked well gratifying neither to the Indian players nor to the BCCI. Although the format was initially recognized and approved for international fixtures but in reality, it was just a cricket’s freak show. But by the time when the first ICC glory arrived (2007 T20 World Cup) who knew that conquering this prestigious accolade would entirely disrupt and change the fortunes of Indian Cricket.

When Yuvraj Singh had slaughtered Stuart Board for six sixes in an over, the concept of IPL, BCCI’s own city-based franchise league was laying its fate into the boardrooms of its parent body. The life state of Indian cricket was rocketed to new heights when Sreesanth took Misbah-ul-Haq’s catch thus unveiling the Dhoni phenomenon. 

With more than 13 years since the format has sensationalized, in the entire world cricket, India has become one of the formidable teams and its players are idolized all around the world. Hence here’s a list of India’s top 10 match winners of all time. 

Here are India’s top 10 match-winners in T20I cricket

10. Ravichandran Ashwin

Although he may no more be in India’s limited-overs setup, but his seven years of limited-overs career exhibits enough to have him in this list. His T20I stats are impressive as the finger spinner has webbed 52 wickets from 46 matches with an economy rate touching 7. 

Ashwin’s best match-winning performance exhibited when Sri Lanka had toured India for a three-match T20I series. Not only he was the player of the series for grabbing nine wickets but he also bowled an exhilarating spell of four wickets which included a maiden and an economy rate of 2, bundling Sri Lanka for a score of 82. 

Ashwin has in total featured in three T20I World Cups (2012, 2014, 2016) for India since his debut in 2010. In his formative years, he was always Captain Dhoni’s preferred man for getting crucial scalps. His last T20I game had come against West Indies in 2017, and ever since then, he has never been on the selection radar for T20Is.

9. Yuzvendra Chahal

Yuzvendra Chahal’s striking run in this format for India is one of the primary reasons why India has been such an eminent team in T20Is now. He is the primary go-to man of Virat Kohli when it comes to attacking in middle-overs and upholds an impressive T20I record. Out of his 45 T20Is, Chahal has grabbed 59 wickets at an economy rate of 8.29.

Although Chahal is yet to feature in a T20 World Cup for India, but his best match-winning performance came in when he grabbed 6 wickets in a crucial decider against England in Bengaluru, 2017. While playing in a home series against Sri Lanka, he also fetched back to back four-wicket hauls, wherein both the occasions India won the match by more than 70 runs margin. 

With India now all set to hunt the upcoming 2021 World T20 at their own backyard, Yuzvendra Chahal’s prowess would be an integral factor to watch out for. His realm of experience in the IPL will be a handy strength for making India a champion team again. 

8. Jasprit Bumrah

It’s an elusive case that within five years of international cricket, Jasprit Bumrah has not only became India’s premier bowler but also arguably India’s all-time great in limited-overs cricket. At present, he along with Virat Kohli are two precious commodities which BCCI would like to preserve as much as possible.

Out of his 49 T20Is, Bumrah has picked up 59 wickets at an impressive economy 6.67. His biggest match-winning spell till date would arguably be the second-last over against Bangladesh in 2016 World T20 group stage match. While only 17 runs were required from 12 deliveries with Bangladesh’s two senior-most men at the crease, Bumrah preserved maximum for Hardik Pandya by containing only 6 runs. 

At present, when it comes to the mastery of death bowling, then Bumrah can be currently regarded as the best chief for it. He is already a commendable pacer for his team and it will be a no surprise that once he finishes, his rank would rocket up into the top three in context of this list. 

7. MS Dhoni

Ever since Dhoni incumbent white-ball cricket, India’s winning mantra was always based on the finishing touches of the captain cool. Arguably the best finisher the game has ever seen, Dhoni’s reliability in the lower-middle order was well evident when he played a plethora of match- finishing cameos throughout his formidable years. 

In terms of his overall T20I stats then Dhoni has jabbed a total of 1617 runs at an average of 37.60. Only twice he had fetched a score of fifty-plus- the first instance being against England (56) coming in a crucial decider at Bengaluru in 2017. His second fifty (52*) had come at a crucial juncture when he along with Manish Pandey had produced a scintillating partnership of 98 runs against South Africa in Centurion 2018.

It was not just about finishing games but it was his overall astute mind which carried the enigma of his captaincy along with some razor-sharp wicketkeeping skills thus making him one of India’s finest match-winners of all time. 

6. Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir has always been a prudent force for India whenever they have triumphed in knockout stages. Be in the final of 2007 World T20 or the 2011 World Cup final, he has delivered some momentous performances. His T20I stats are as humble aggregating to a run tally of 932 runs from 37 matches including seven fifties. 

Undeniably, Gambhir’s 75 runs knock from 54 deliveries was the architect in the 2007 T20 final which helped India to post a fighting total of 157. His heroics in the World Cup were well laid when the pocket-sized dynamo amassed 227 runs from his six outings. 

Because of his touch play, Gambhir’s innings always contained a flurry of boundaries rather than sixes and that’s the reason why he has cumulated 109 boundaries in his T20I career. At his time he belonged to a fluent breed of batsmanship, who would become an excellent anchor while chasing a total or amassing a big first innings score. 

5. KL Rahul

Despite coming into India’s limited-overs scene in 2016, KL Rahul at present is one of the most consistent and prolific T20I cricketers of this Indian team. It was his consistency which made him fetch a permanent opening slot. Rahul has procured some dazzling T20I numbers which command a different level of admiration. (M-45, Runs-1542, 12 fifties and 2 hundreds,)

Although Rahul’s first hundred (110* vs West Indies) had shaped into a losing cause but it was a primitive sign exhibiting his prowess. His another unbeaten hundred (101*) against England in Manchester was a stupendous ton especially when the target to achieve was mere 160 runs. 

Out of all his 12 fifties in T20Is, there have only been five instances when Rahul’s strike rate has fallen below 150. He also maintains a healthy average of 44 and can also be termed as a six-hitting machine who has jolted 63 sixes at present.

4. Suresh Raina

Suresh Raina who is also called as an IPL hero or a four hundred run bank has been an elusive breed for India who could viciously bat at any position during his time. His ability to counter-attack has always been one of his praiseworthy traits which eventually did make him a serious match-winner. 

Irrefutably, Suresh Raina’s T20 exuberance for India was well witnessed when he thrust a 60 ball sparkling hundred (101) against South Africa. It was a courageous hundred especially considering South Africa’ brooding bowling lineup. (Steyn, M Morkel, Kallis)

Raina’s unbeaten 49 runs in the third T20I of the away Australian series was a pivotal knock especially when he finished the proceedings by a last-ball four. He also possesses some impressive T20I numbers by scoring 1604 runs from 78 games including five fifties and 58 sixes. 

3.Yuvraj Singh

There can be no white-ball list of Indian legends without featuring this champions name. The architect of India’s two ICC glories (2007 and 2011) and one of India’s opulent match-winners of all time, Yuvraj had an impactful T20I career for India. Out of his 51 T20I outings, the left-hander has scored 1177 runs including 8 fifties and 74 sixes. 

Yuvraj had a lion’s roar 2007 T20 World Cup and it will be no brainer that his biggest match-winning innings had been commanded in that event. Although his ardent fans might refrain, but it was his herculean match-winning knock against Australia in the semi-final (70 from 30 balls) which can be termed as the best knock of his T20I career rather than his swashbuckling play against England. 

It’s been close to 14 years when Yuvraj amassed a world record for the fastest T20I fifty off just 12 balls against England which still promisingly remains the record despite T20I cricket reaching its peak.

2. Rohit Sharma

If one might be certainly reluctant on Rohit Sharma’s ability in T20s then let’s not forget that he is the only T20I batsman at present who has scored four international T20I hundreds. He has an ebullient T20I record where he has amassed 2773 runs from his 108 T20Is.

Although his first hundred against South Africa had transpired into a losing cause, but his other three hundreds have been prolific match-winning performances. His third hundred against England (100*)at Bristol was a series-defining ton which gave India a convincing series win against England.

Regardless of having four tons and 21 fifties in his T20I career, Rohit’s by far the most crucial knock of his career still remains to be his vigorous match-winning score (50* from 40 deliveries) against South Africa in 2007 World T20. Although Rohit has the most tons in T20Is, it will be interesting to see how many more tons he fetches until his retirement. 

1. Virat Kohli 

No wonder why he’s hailed as the king of the limited-overs format, Virat Kohli still remains India’s greatest T20I batsman. His overall T20I record at present is superior above all class as India’s skipper has amassed close to three thousand runs(2928) from 79 innings including a maintained average of 50.48. 

Although Virat has a lot of match-winning performances in his eventful T20I career which spans more than a decade now. But when it comes to choosing his premier match-winning innings then the man himself had chosen his impregnable knock (82* from 51 deliveries) against Australia in the 2016 World T20 group match. Although India did lose in the semi-final encounter against West Indies, Virat Kohli was adjourned as Player of the tournament. 

His next best match-winning occurrence would be India’s first-ever clean sweep series win in Australia where he amassed 199 runs from three outings. If Virat Kohli’s prime’s started from 2016 then before that he had played an unimaginable knock (72* from 44) against South Africa in the second semi-final of 2014 World T20.