A combined world XI of the best T20 players can only challenge India across any condition.
India are the best T20I side in the world at the moment. Even overall, a few T20 teams have been as dominating and rich in quality as India’s current T20I talent. No wonder the Men in Blue have been the best-performing side in the shortest format and also the world champions.
In the current times, few teams can challenge India in any format, but the gap widens in the T20I version. Obviously, a few defeats might come here and there, but no team is as formidable as India, irrespective of the results. Given the setup, a combined world XI of the best T20 players can only challenge them across any condition.
Along the same lines, we form a World XI that can defeat India in T20Is.
Travis Head might be among the finest white-ball players in world cricket at the moment and should be among the first names on the team sheet of World XI. Since 2023, he has 2085 runs at an average of 34.75 and a strike rate of 171.04 in 64 T20 outings, including 17 fifties and a century. Then, he is also India’s nemesis, who always performs against India when they least want him to.
Few batters have made as much impact as Jos Buttler in T20s in the last decade, and he is easily among the best white-ball players in world cricket. He has scored 644 runs at an average of 32.20 and a strike rate of 143.75 in 24 innings, comprising five fifties and a best of 83*. He has the experience facing all Indian bowlers – thanks to his marvellous IPL career – and understands how to pace the innings on any kind of surface.
Among the best T20 batters in world cricket, Nicholas Pooran walks into any T20 side, and so in the world XI. He is one of the finest spin hitters and plays all around the globe, with ample experience in the format. Pooran’s IPL record is also great, suggesting he counters Indian bowlers better than several other overseas batters and should bat at No.3 in this XI.
The most improved white-ball player over the last year or so, Dewald Brevis, is among the most explosive T20 batters, with superior capabilities against pace and spin. He is powerful against slow bowlers and can thwack fuller-length deliveries against speedsters. His only issue remains short stuff at a high pace, but with pace-hitters around, Brevis gets the shield required to whack spinners.
Even if his recent form has regressed a bit, Heinrich Klaasen is the best T20 batter in world cricket at the moment. At his peak, he has literally no real weakness and can bat anywhere and at any rate. He is ruthless against spinners and can hit all lengths against pace at will, making him one of the most complete T20 batters ever.
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Few batters can do what Tim David has been doing across T20 leagues at the moment. He bats in the lower order and powers speedsters on all lengths, but the Aussie batter has lately shown the ability to be flexible and bat higher in the order. This year, he has a strike rate of 177.16 and a balls-per-boundary ratio of 3.84.
Rashid Khan’s current form has been tepid, but he is easily in the top three best T20 bowlers of all time. He is the format’s leading wicket-taker, with 670 scalps at an average of 18.45 and a strike rate of 16.77 in 488 innings, comprising four five-wicket hauls. There’s also more than handy batting value in the lower order, someone who can be banked upon, irrespective of the situation.
It’s hard to find many players with an impact as big as Sunil Narine in T20 cricket. Even after all these years, Narine remains one of the best bowlers in the format, someone who bowls immaculate lines and lengths and forces errors from batters. Then, his improved batting returns mean he is the most valuable player and a must-pick in World XI.
Jofra Archer is among the most talented pacers in world cricket and has slowly been regaining his beast mode after a long injury layoff. His accuracy has taken a hit since his return, but Archer is still capable of churning out match-winning spells and can bowl tough overs, as he does for the teams he plays for. It’s hard to find better bowlers than him in white-ball cricket, even if he might not be at his lethal best just yet.
It’s amazing how Josh Hazlewood has developed himself into a T20 bowler when he was touted as a red-ball specialist for most of his career. His attributes are close to what a perfect T20 pacer should have: he can bowl fuller lengths to extract movement early on, bowl hard lengths at high pace in the middle overs, and has developed slower ones and control over his yorkers for death overs. IPL 2025 wasn’t an exception in any case; he has been one of the best T20 operators for a while now, even if he doesn’t play ample cricket in this format.
Trent Boult might be the best left-arm pacer in T20s at the moment, someone who has played all around the world and reaped ample success. His bowling is not just limited to new-ball heroics, even though he still remains one of the finest powerplay operators. His death-over expertise has grown in recent years, and Boult has shown tremendous control over his yorkers and slower ones, increasing his overall value as a pacer and ranking him very high among T20 speedsters.
Travis Head, Jos Buttler (wk), Nicholas Pooran, Dewald Brevis, Heinrich Klaasen, Tim David, Rashid Khan, Sunil Narine, Jofra Archer, Josh Hazlewood, Trent Boult
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