It’s been a big year for T20I cricket, culminating with the T20 World Cup in Australia – here’s Wisden’s men’s T20I team of the year.

Three of England’s World Cup winners make this XI with another three from Pakistan’s side which made the final. Six nations are represented in all with two players from India and one player each from South Africa, New Zealand and Zimbabwe. While there are plenty of wicketkeeping options in this side, Jos Buttler takes the gloves as well as the captaincy.

Honourable mentions for those who didn’t make the side include Josh Hazlewood, Arshdeep Singh, Rilee Rossouw and Finn Allen.

2022 in Review: Wisden’s men’s T20I team of the year – the selections

Jos Buttler (wk + c)

15 matches, 462 runs @ 35.53, SR: 160.41, HS: 80*
17 catches, 0 stumpings

A big year for Buttler. After taking over the England captaincy he delivered in style, winning the T20 World Cup to make England the only men’s side to hold both the 50 over and 20 over trophies at the same time. After missing the entirety of England’s tour of Pakistan before arriving in Australia, Buttler’s best innings came in the semi-final against India where he struck 80* off 49 balls to lead his side to the final. He shared an unbeaten stand of 170 with Alex Hales to take England to a ten-wicket win before lifting the trophy at the MCG.

Mohammad Rizwan

25 matches, 996 runs @ 45.27, SR: 122.96, HS: 88*

With five scores of over 70 and an important half-century against New Zealand in the World Cup semi-final, Rizwan has had another uber-consistent year in T20Is. While he strikes at a lesser rate than many of his competitors, the incredible frequency with which he contributes wins him the slot alongside Buttler.

Suryakumar Yadav

31 matches, 1164 runs @ 46.56, SR: 187.43, HS: 117

An outrageous year for Suryakumar saw him become only the second player to score over 1000 T20I runs in a calendar year. He scored a blistering 117 against England at Trent Bridge off just 55 balls, another rapid ton against New Zealand, and he now has the highest overall strike-rate of any male player who has batted in more than 20 T20I innings. In November he easily passed Rizwan’s record for the most T20I sixes hit in a calendar year, finishing up 2022 with 68 maximums.

Glenn Phillips

21 matches, 716 runs @ 44.75, SR: 156.33, HS: 104

Phillips scored a century against Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup and followed up with a half-century in New Zealand’s next match against England. He scored the most runs for New Zealand in 2022 and finishes the year third in the ICC Men’s T20 Batting Rankings list.

David Miller

16 matches, 361 runs @ 60.16, SR: 164.86, HS: 106*

South Africa’s stand-out T20I batter in 2022, Miller’s 106* against India came at a strike-rate of 225.53 and was his second century in T20I cricket. He also cracked 64 off 31, again against India, in June to help South Africa chase down a record 212 to win the match. The only player in this side to average more than fifty with the bat, Miller’s last two years in T20I cricket have been his best, showing him as the power-hitting game-changer he has been branded as throughout his career.

Sikandar Raza

24 matches, 735 runs @ 35.00, SR: 150.92, HS: 87
25 wickets @ 17.68, ER: 6.13, BBI: 4-8

Zimbabwe’s superb T20 World Cup campaign nearly had them going from the qualifier stage to the semi-finals after they beat Pakistan in the Super 12. Raza led the way in that historic victory, taking three crucial wickets in Pakistan’s chase and completing the win by running out Shaheen Afridi off the last ball of the match. He won the Player of the Match on three occasions during the World Cup scoring 82 against Ireland and taking three wickets against the West Indies.

Shadab Khan

20 matches, 201 runs @ 20.10, SR: 154.61, HS: 52
25 wickets @ 20.56, ER: 6.79, BBI: 4-8

Shadab’s most memorable performance with the bat this year came against South Africa where he blasted a half-century off 20 balls, rescuing Pakistan who were 43-4 and facing elimination from the tournament. With the ball he took three wickets apiece against Zimbabwe and the Netherlands, his best performance coming against Hong Kong in the Asia Cup where he took 4-8.

Sam Curran

19 matches, 25 wickets @ 21.08, ER: 7.56, BBI: 5-10
67 runs @ 8.37, SR: 104.68, HS: 17

Curran was having a quiet year in T20I cricket coming back from injury before becoming England’s go-to-death bowler and cleaning up at the T20 World Cup. He became the first England men’s player to take a five-for in a men’s T20I match against Afghanistan, but his best performance came in the final where he took 3-12 and was named Player of the Tournament. He finished the World Cup as the second leading wicket-taker and a bowling strike rate for the year of 16.7.

Adil Rashid

24 matches, 19 wickets @ 34.36, ER: 7.50, BBI: 2-17

For the first-half of 2022, some were questioning whether Rashid had lost some of the magic which had made him a permanent fixture in England’s white-ball sides since 2015. In their semi-final against India however, Rashid silenced his critics with a magic spell, dismissing Suryakumar Yadav and conceding just 20 runs from his four overs in a brilliant display of wrist-spin bowling. He struck again in the final, taking a wicket with his first ball before dismissing Babar Azam with a sharp caught and bowled. He may be in the twilight of his career but the World Cup showed Rashid at his very best.

Haris Rauf

23 matches, 31 wickets @ 20.74, ER: 7.54, BBI: 3-28

Rauf finishes 2022 as Pakistan’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is. He impressed against England on their tour of Pakistan, taking eight wickets in the six matches he played, before taking another eight wickets in the T20 World Cup, excelling at the death.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

32 matches, 37 wickets @ 19.56, ER: 6.98, BBI: 5-4

Bhuvneshwar took a mammoth 37 wickets in 2022, emphasising his worth as a powerplay titan. He took his second five-for of his career against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup, but arguably his most impressive performance was against South Africa at Cuttack in June. He took figures of 4-13 in a losing cause for India, exploiting the swing on offer superbly. Of ICC full-member nations, only Josh Little has more T20I wickets than Bhuvneshwar this year, showing once again his class on the world stage.

2022 in Review: Wisden’s men’s T20I team of the year – the line-up

1. Jos Buttler
2. Mohammad Rizwan
3. Suryakumar Yadav
4. Glenn Phillips
5. David Miller
6. Sikandar Raza
7. Shadab Khan
8. Sam Curran
9. Adil Rashid
10. Haris Rauf
11. Bhuvneshwar Kumar