Amid lockdown, many cricketers, be it former or current active players, are engaging in different activities to interact with their fans and followers. In the process, former Indian opener Aakash Chopra, who is widely known for his analysis on various aspects of the game, came up with a fresh video on his YouTube channel where he revealed his list of top six all-time greatest T20 batsmen in the history of the game.
While there is always a debate at present regarding the best T20 batters, Chopra decided to give his verdict on the red-hot topic. The cricketer-turned-commentator started his list by naming the all-time best T20 player. He picked Chris Gayle as the all-time greatest T20 batsman. Chopra reckoned that the veteran West Indies’ batsman leaves a significant impact on his opponents via his brilliant batting.
The ‘Universe Boss’ has a career strike rate of 146.9 in the shortest format. Gayle has so far played 404 T20 games in which the left-handed power-striker has stockpiled a mountain of 13,296 runs which is the highest by any player in the cricketing world. The Jamaican cricketer also has a record of hitting the maximum number of sixes in T20s. Gayle has smashed 978 maximums in his career.
After Gayle, Chopra went with another genius cricketer AB de Villiers. He rated the former Proteas player as one of the finest white-ball cricketers. The right-handed batsman has so far appeared in 310 matches and amassed 8657 runs at an impressive strike-rate of 149.77.
For the third and fourth spots, Chopra picked another Caribbean player Kieron Pollard and Australian opener David Warner, respectively. With 501 games, Pollard holds the record of playing maximum matches in T20s. He is the second-highest run-getter in the format with as many as 10,000 runs to his name. Warner, on the other hand, has played 280 matches and scored 9218 runs which is the fifth most by any batsman.
Similarly, for the following two positions, Chopra went with Indian pair of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. He picked Kohli on the fifth position and Rohit for the sixth place. Chopra opined that when it comes to having an impact in T20 cricket, Kohli is better than Rohit.
The former Delhi player also said that Kohli is a consistent performer; however, his strike rate is not that good in the T20 format. For choosing ‘Hitman’ on the last spot, Chopra stated that Rohit has the lowest average in comparison to other batsmen. He further added that Rohit’s overall T20 career strike rate is just 133.7, which is quite less than other players.
Kohli has appeared in 281 T20 matches and accumulated 8900 runs with five hundreds and 64 half-centuries. Rohit, on the other hand, has clubbed 8642 runs in 328 T20s. The 33-year-old has smashed six centuries and 60 fifties in his T20 career.