What is T20I cricket?

T20 cricket is one of the most popular formats of the sport in today’s world, where time is of utmost essence.

With every second being important, fans and spectators have chosen the truncated version of the game that promises thrill in every second, irrespective of how transitory it may seem.

T20 cricket may have found its popularity of late, but the format was the brainchild of the England and Wales cricket board’s marketing executive, Stuart Robertson.

Being candid, even though this format gained its traction after the opening edition of the T20 World Cup in 2007, it found its roots way back in 2004.

England was encountered with a worrying problem that witnessed a vertiginous slump in the attendance in county cricket.

Despite the firebrand loyalty of the county cricket loyalists, the new fans seemed disinterested in the extended version of the sport.

After a market survey, Robertson found out that one of the major problems of the sport is that it was too long for a generation who wanted to feel the world revolving around them.

He came up with this outrageous idea of cutting short the game by bits and pieces but what he professed was more than a chunk of the flesh to the holy versions of cricket that the loyalists always held close to them.

T20 cricket was forced to add glam and speed to the existent Benson and Hedges Cup. Initially, the idea didn’t garner much traction, but as time wheezed by, it started getting more and more popular, and with the 2007 World Cup and the opening edition of the Indian Premier League, the shortest format of the game climbed upon its chariot of inexorable glory.

It felt incredibly unbelievable that t20i cricket could be a reality, especially during the rigorous schedules of international cricket.

However, the 2007 T20i World Cup made it clear that international cricket was gearing up for a paradigm shift.

What started off as entertainment for the first time in the t20i World Cup shortly found itself booming throughout the world.

To give a heads-up, T20 Cricket is a contest of the willow and the leather that would come up with a win for one side while the other team will mark the date as a day of learning.

Also Read: What is ODI cricket?

What are the rules and regulations of T20I cricket

T20i cricket is just the international version of T20 cricket. The rules and regulations of t20 cricket are nothing different from the mainstream game.

Two teams collide with each other and joust for supremacy with the total on the cards. Whichever team scores the highest runs on the board emerge as the winners of the clash. The matches are generally played for a duration of four hours with the necessary tweaks that mould themselves according to the requirements of the game.

Fielding restrictions remain in the game for the opening six overs that are also deemed as the powerplays. As the name of the format suggests, the contest is played for 20 overs per innings.

A few fundamental differences that the format has is in case of a tie, the game rolls to a super over where each team gets three batters to do justice to their side. If two of them get dismissed before the quota of the complete over, whatever runs that they have piled up until that extent in that over becomes the target.

The team batting second in the game has to bat first while the team batting first chases the total. This format of a tie-breaker is preceded by an obsolete bowl-out format that witnessed two of the fiercest cricketing rivals go toe-to-toe with each other in the opening edition of the T20 World Cup.

India and Pakistan fought each other in the 2007 World Cup first-round game, and it was India’s maiden victory on the international stage. India managed to post a modest 141 for the loss of 9 wickets, thanks to decent displays from Robin Uthappa, MS Dhoni, Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar.

Pakistan was off to a flying start but India managed to reel them back in with the help of Ajit Agarkar and Irfan Pathan. However, a persistent Misbah-ul-Haq managed to bail them out of the quagmire and almost secured a victory for them until the Indians had other plans.

An extraordinary illustration of captaincy and fielding helped India secure a tie, and India’s bowlers were bang on target while Pakistan couldn’t even kiss the timbre once.

Each team is awarded two reviews from the beginning as a part of the Decision Review System (DRS) to challenge the umpire’s calls. Each innings has two reviews for one team. The team batting first can use two reviews in their innings while they field they will have another couple of reviews coming up for them.

In the case of LBW’s, if there is a question of the impact, the umpire’s call will be deemed as final. The confirmation comes after the third umpire has taken care of the proceedings. The DRS also acts as a test for the umpire’s ability to dispose of his job perfectly.

ICC T20I Cricket Men’s Team Ranking 

ICC Player Rankings in T20Is

Top Batsmen

 Top Bowlers

 Top All-Rounders

Who is the highest run-scorer in T20Is?

The highest run-scorer in T20i cricket is India’s former captain, Virat Kohli. He is an aggressive striker of the ball and one of the most effusive stroke players in the world. He is followed by the New Zealand opener, Martin Guptill, who is another iconic striker of the ball.

The other three batters in the list of the top five highest-scoring batters in T20 cricket are Rohit Sharma, Aaron Finch and Paul Stirling.

These three are top strikers of the ball with Rohit Sharma being a sublime opener in any format of the sport. Aaron Finch has recently seen a slide in his form in T20 cricket but his earlier exploits make him a big man to watch out for.

Paul Stirling is a rebellious batter carving his way through a posse of excellent batters in the globe to make the cut for the top five despite being a part of an associate nation.

Also Read: What is Test cricket?

Who has taken the most wickets in T20I cricket?

Shakib Al Hasan and Tim Southee lead the list of wicket-takers in T20i cricket. Shakib is in the pole position while Kiwi express bowler, Tim Southee follows suit.

The other three in the list of top five are Lasith Malinga with 107 wickets while the two others in the list are Rashid Khan and Shahid Afridi. Afridi has managed to rack up 98 wickets in his T20i career.

Lasith Malinga and Shahid Afridi have had their moment of reckoning in T20I cricket. Malinga has completed a century of scalps before stepping down from the pedestal. The number of wickets claimed by Afridi has fallen short of the magical figures by a whisker. The contest of Southee and Hasan has so far been the most classic duel of two bowlers vying for the ace.

Team India T20I calendar for 2021-22

Team India will be playing three T20i’s against New Zealand that will be held at Jaipur, Ranchi and Kolkata, which will be followed by three more T20I’s at Cuttack, Vizag and Trivandrum.

India will then be travelling to South Africa to play four T20I’s, out of which three will be happening at Cape Town, and one will be happening at Paarl.

Following this exciting series, India will be up against continental neighbours that will include the likes of Sri Lanka, and there will be three T20I’s which are slated to be played at Mohali, Dharamsala and Lucknow.

India also has a series against England in the following year as they will be playing three T20I’s that will be played at Southampton, Nottingham and Birmingham.

South Africa will be travelling next to India to play five T20I’s that are scheduled to be played at Chennai, Bengaluru, Nagpur, Rajkot and Delhi.