Batsmen With The Most T20I Runs In A Calendar Year

The T20 format has favored the top-order batsman a lot more and it is important that the batsmen catch hold of their good form and make it big in the calendar year. To be honest, it has been a nightmare for the bowlers in the shorter format with the batsmen making it count each and every time.

The entertainment factor will always be a big plus and the crowds love watching those consistencies from the big names in the T20 formats. With the T20 Worldcup coming up in October in the UAE, let us look at six batsmen with the most T20I runs in a calendar year.

Batsmen With The Most T20I Runs In A Calendar Year:

Virat Kohli – 2016

There is hardly a list not featuring a batsman like Virat Kohli, and he is sixth on the batsmen with the most T20I runs in a calendar year. Kohli had an extraordinary year in 2016 with the T20 format as he amassed 641 runs in the year with most of them coming in the T20 Worldcup as well.

Kohli is the epitome of consistency and he averages nearly 50 in the T20 international format which speaks volumes of his abilities with the bat. He will be looking to continue his dominance in the upcoming T20 World cup as well.

Shikhar Dhawan – 2018

The Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan is fifth on the list of batsmen with the most T20I runs in a year. The left-hander had a fantastic 2018 scoring 689 runs in the year and he was amazing to watch as well. He has been in really good form in the IPL for the last two seasons as well.

Dhawan is not a certainty for the T20 World cup still, and with Prithvi Shaw doing so well, it could be the end of the road for Dhawan in the format. The age factor might also not help his cause for the selection.

Max- O- Dowd – 2019

Max-O-Dowd of the Netherlands had a terrific 2019 season and he sits fourth in the list of batsmen with the most T20I runs in a year. He played 24 games in the T20 format in the year scoring 702 runs at an average of 29.25 and was among the runs always.

He hit six fifties in the year with the highest score of 69 and the 27-year-old has had a prolific start to his international career so far. He will have a big role to play in the qualifiers for the Netherlands in the T20 Worldcup this year.

Kevin O Brien – 2019

Kevin O Brien is one of the hardest hitters of the cricket ball in the world and he has been opening for Ireland in T20 internationals which allowed him to get among the top run-scorers. The right-hander hit 729 runs in 23 innings in 2019 which is the overall 3rd highest among the batsmen in the T20I format.

The Ireland cricketer had a strike rate of 155.43 in the year with one century and three half-centuries and his highest score was 124. He hit a whopping 36 sixes in the year too which shows his ease for hitting sixes.

Paul Stirling – 2019

Paul Stirling is one of the most underrated performers in T20 cricket and he has a lot to offer with the bat for Ireland too over the years. He was the highest run-scorer in the 2019 year in the T20I format scoring 748 runs in 20 games at an average of 41.55 and he sits second on the list of most runs by a batsman in a year in the T20I format.

Stirling hit 8 fifties in the year and he had an overall strike rate of 140.60. He will be one of the key players for Ireland in the upcoming T20 Worldcup qualifiers.

Mohammad Rizwan – 2021

Mohammad Rizwan has been in the talking limelight for Pakistan in all the formats and he has been in the prime form off late with the bat. The wicket-keeper batsman has been superb ever since he has come up the order in the shorter format and he has had a prolific 2021 season so far.

The right-hander has scored a record 752 runs in 14 innings at a phenomenal average of 94 and has scored seven fifties and one century already. He could be the player to watch out for in the T20 World cup this year and it won’t be a surprise if he becomes the first batsmen to cross 1000 runs in a year in T20Is.