T20Is - Best Opening Batsmen

Top 10 Opening Batsmen In T20Is

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Our Twenty Twenty International (T20I) ratings take into account all matches from the first T20I match on February 17, 2005 till the below mentioned last update date. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section (Detailed Explanation). Here are the Top 10 opening batsmen in T20I Cricket of all time.

*Note: All T20I Ratings are updated till 2025-10-12

CONTENTS
1. THE CRITERIA
2. QUALIFICATION
3. PRIMARY CRITERIA
3.1. PROLIFIC
3.2. CONSISTENT
3.2.1. Against All Teams
3.2.2. Against Top Teams
3.3. ATTACKING
3.3.1. Against All Teams
3.3.2. Against Top Teams
3.4. BIG INNINGS POTENTIAL (NWT)
3.5. QUICK INNINGS POTENTIAL (NWT)
3.6. PRIMARY RATING
4. CONDITIONS CRITERIA
4.1. HOME/AWAY
4.1.1. At Home
4.1.2. Away From Home
4.2. FAMILIAR/UNFAMILIAR CONDITIONS
4.2.1. Familiar Conditions Rating
4.2.1.1. Non Asians Outside Asia
4.2.1.2. Asians In Asia
4.2.2. Unfamiliar Conditions Rating
4.2.2.1. Non Asians In Asia
4.2.2.2. Asians Outside Asia
4.3. CONDITIONS RATING
5. SECONDARY CRITERIA
5.1. WORLD CUP
5.2. IMPACT INNINGS
5.3. TOP FORM
5.4. SECONDARY RATING
6. OVERALL RATING
7. NON WEAK TEAMS
8. TOP TEAMS
Position Filter

This rating filters the OVERALL Rating to include performances of opening batsmen. Innings played only at the specified position are counted in this rating.

THE CRITERIA

CRITERIA CONSTITUENTS
Primary Runs, Average, Strike Rate, Top Inns (Runs and SR)
Conditions Home, Away, In Asia, Outside Asia
Secondary World Cup, Impact Inns, Top Form
The Trend Setter (TS)

TS is the player which does the best in a criteria. The rating of all other players are calculated taking the TS as the benchmark. Know All About TS. Here is an example:-

  • TS Runs: 2,000; Player X Runs: 1,000; Section Points: 250.00
  • TS Points: 250.00(Max); Player X Points: Runs/TS Runs X 250 = 1,000/2,000 X 250 = 125.00
  • Ratings of all sections are calculated similarly with Runs being replaced by the Criteria Stat.
TT and NWT

Some sections consider performances only against the top teams (TT) and non weak teams (NWT). Here is some information:-

  • Win/Loss Ratio is used to determine TT and NWT.
  • They are calculated by decades.
  • A batsman's performace is counted in TT or NWT if it comes against that team in the specific decade.
  • Knock Out matches of T20 World Cup are also counted in TT.
  • TT and NWT may be found in the last section.

QUALIFICATION

Min Innings (TT) 15
Min Overall Runs 500

PRIMARY CRITERIA

The Primary Rating is divided into 5 main sections:-

CRITERIA STAT POINTS
Prolific Runs Scored 200.00
Consistent Average 250.00
Attacking Strike Rate 250.00
Big Innings Potential Top Inns (Runs) 100.00
Quick Innings Potential Top Inns (SR) 200.00

PROLIFIC

Criteria: Points For Runs Scored

RANK BATSMAN NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS RG Sharma IND 2009 2024 2016.5 124 3750 200.00
1 RG Sharma IND 2009 2024 2016.5 124 3750 200.00
2 MJ Guptill NZ 2009 2022 2015.5 102 3170 169.07
3 Mohammad Rizwan PAK 2020 2024 2022 76 3162 168.64
4 DA Warner AUS 2009 2024 2016.5 103 3109 165.81
5 Babar Azam PAK 2018 2024 2021 87 2973 158.56
6 AJ Finch AUS 2012 2022 2017 91 2848 151.89
7 Q de Kock SA 2013 2025 2019 89 2555 136.27
8 JC Buttler ENG 2016 2025 2020.5 62 2307 123.04
9 CH Gayle WI 2006 2021 2013.5 59 1660 88.53
10 PD Salt ENG 2022 2025 2023.5 39 1374 73.28

CONSISTENT

R Ave

Relative Average (R Ave) is a more accurate type of average. Know How It Is Calculated. Briefly, it takes into account:-

  • Strength of Opposition.
  • Positions at which a batsman has played.
  • Venues at which he has played.
  • Time Period in which he has been active

Criteria: Points For Relative Average

Min Qualification For TS
Min Runs 750
Min Runs (TT) 600

Against All Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS 50s AVE R AVE RAT
TS Mohammad Rizwan 76 15 3162 30 51.84 52.71 100.00
1 Mohammad Rizwan 76 15 3162 30 51.84 52.71 100.00
2 JC Buttler 62 12 2307 21 46.14 46.91 89.00
3 PD Salt 39 6 1374 5 41.64 43.59 82.71
4 Babar Azam 87 9 2973 25 38.12 38.00 72.09
5 DA Warner 103 12 3109 27 34.16 34.65 65.75
6 AJ Finch 91 7 2848 17 33.90 33.77 64.07
7 MJ Guptill 102 5 3170 20 32.68 33.12 62.84
8 CH Gayle 59 6 1660 13 31.32 32.61 61.86
9 RG Sharma 124 9 3750 27 32.61 32.58 61.81
10 Q de Kock 89 7 2555 16 31.16 31.54 59.85

Against Top Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS 50s AVE R AVE RAT
TS Mohammad Rizwan 58 9 2433 22 49.65 51.56 150.00
1 Mohammad Rizwan 58 9 2433 22 49.65 51.56 150.00
2 JC Buttler 52 8 1957 19 44.48 45.53 132.46
3 PD Salt 34 5 1208 4 41.66 44.42 129.21
4 Babar Azam 73 9 2514 20 39.28 39.87 115.98
5 CH Gayle 53 6 1569 13 33.38 35.21 102.42
6 DA Warner 89 11 2705 24 34.68 35.11 102.13
7 MJ Guptill 87 3 2633 17 31.35 32.11 93.40
8 Q de Kock 67 4 1973 12 31.32 32.07 93.28
9 AJ Finch 78 5 2315 14 31.71 31.77 92.43
10 RG Sharma 94 6 2555 15 29.03 29.08 84.59

ATTACKING

R SR

Relative Strike Rate (R SR) is calculated using the same method as R Ave with average being replaced with SR.

Criteria: Points For R SR

Min Qualification For TS
Min Runs 750
Min Runs (TT) 600
Min Average 20

Against All Teams

RANK BATSMAN RUNS BF SR R SR RAT
TS Ab Sharma 825 413 199.76 189.55 100.00
1 PD Salt 1374 810 169.63 165.68 87.40
2 JC Buttler 2307 1471 156.83 152.27 80.33
3 CH Gayle 1660 1171 141.76 143.11 75.50
4 DA Warner 3109 2187 142.16 141.85 74.83
5 AJ Finch 2848 1982 143.69 141.34 74.56
6 RG Sharma 3750 2622 143.02 141.17 74.48
7 MJ Guptill 3170 2267 139.83 137.81 72.70
8 Q de Kock 2555 1845 138.48 136.88 72.21
9 Babar Azam 2973 2277 130.57 129.26 68.19
10 Mohammad Rizwan 3162 2476 127.71 126.31 66.64

Against Top Teams

RANK BATSMAN RUNS BF SR R SR RAT
TS PD Salt 1208 709 170.38 166.73 200.00
1 PD Salt 1208 709 170.38 166.73 200.00
2 JC Buttler 1957 1244 157.32 152.30 182.69
3 CH Gayle 1569 1061 147.88 149.63 179.48
4 DA Warner 2705 1883 143.65 143.18 171.75
5 AJ Finch 2315 1624 142.55 140.13 168.09
6 RG Sharma 2555 1798 142.10 139.93 167.85
7 MJ Guptill 2633 1860 141.56 139.62 167.48
8 Q de Kock 1973 1405 140.43 138.09 165.64
9 Babar Azam 2514 1901 132.25 130.67 156.75
10 Mohammad Rizwan 2433 1892 128.59 126.39 151.62

BIG INNINGS POTENTIAL (NWT)

Ave HS

In this criteria, we have taken the top 5 scores of the batsman against Non Weak Teams of all time. Average High Score (Ave HS) is simply the total runs in the 5 innings divided by 5.

Criteria: Points For Runs Scored In The Top 5 Inns

RANK BATSMAN 1 2 3 4 5 AVE HS RAT
TS PD Salt 141* 119 109* 103* 88* 112.00 100.00
1 PD Salt 141* 119 109* 103* 88* 112.00 100.00
2 RG Sharma 121* 118 111* 106 100* 111.20 99.29
3 Babar Azam 122 110* 101* 97* 90 104.00 92.86
4 CH Gayle 117 100* 98 90 88 98.60 88.04
5 AJ Finch 156 89 84 79* 74 96.40 86.07
6 MJ Guptill 105 101* 97 87* 80 94.00 83.93
7 Mohammad Rizwan 104* 98* 90* 89 88* 93.80 83.75
8 DA Warner 100* 90* 89* 89 81 89.80 80.18
9 JC Buttler 101* 84 83* 83* 83 86.80 77.50
10 Q de Kock 100 79* 74 72 70 79.00 70.54

QUICK INNINGS POTENTIAL (NWT)

QI SR

In this criteria, we have taken the top 5 innings of the batsman with highest strike rate against Non Weak Teams. Quick Innings Strike Rate (QI SR) is the Relative SR of the batsmen in the 5 innings.

Criteria: Points For R SR In The Top 5 Inns by SR

RANK BATSMAN 1 2 3 4 5 QI SR RAT
TS FH Allen 42/16 50/20 71/29 38/16 34/15 240.75 150.00
1 DA Warner 40/16 59/24 39/16 67/29 21/10 237.37 147.89
2 RG Sharma 118/43 21/9 46/20 92/41 62/28 237.32 147.86
3 Q de Kock 65/22 41/17 100/44 52/24 31/15 234.14 145.88
4 MJ Guptill 63/25 50/20 44/19 42/19 31/15 231.30 144.11
5 AJ Finch 156/63 37/16 40/18 31/15 68/33 225.21 140.31
6 JC Buttler 83/30 25/11 71/32 83/38 68/32 224.06 139.60
7 CH Gayle 77/31 90/41 30/14 100/48 25/12 222.64 138.72
8 PD Salt 55/23 141/60 88/41 119/57 40/20 215.26 134.12
9 Babar Azam 23/11 122/59 101/58 85/49 97/58 180.31 112.34
10 Mohammad Rizwan 87/45 25/14 88/51 104/64 98/62 168.47 104.97

PRIMARY RATING

The total of the above five criteria comes out to be 1,000.00 points. The Primary Rating is the addition of the points a batsman scored in the five criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 40 percent.

RANK BATSMAN PRO CON ATT BIP QIP RAT PRI PTS
1 RG Sharma 200.00 146.40 242.33 99.29 147.86 835.87 334.35
2 Mohammad Rizwan 168.64 250.00 218.25 83.75 104.97 825.61 330.24
3 JC Buttler 123.04 221.46 263.02 77.50 139.60 824.62 329.85
4 DA Warner 165.81 167.87 246.58 80.18 147.89 808.34 323.34
5 PD Salt 73.28 211.92 287.40 100.00 134.12 806.72 322.69
6 MJ Guptill 169.07 156.24 240.18 83.93 144.11 793.52 317.41
7 AJ Finch 151.89 156.50 242.65 86.07 140.31 777.43 310.97
8 Babar Azam 158.56 188.07 224.94 92.86 112.34 776.77 310.71
9 Q de Kock 136.27 153.13 237.85 70.54 145.88 743.66 297.47
10 CH Gayle 88.53 164.28 254.98 88.04 138.72 734.55 293.82

CONDITIONS CRITERIA

The Conditions Rating is calculated by applying the five criteria of Primary Rating to various conditions. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points. Click on the Rating Titles to see how they were calculated.

The four conditions criteria and thier weightage is as follows:-

CRITERIA POINTS
Home 20.00
Away 80.00
Familiar Conditions 20.00
Unfamiliar Conditions 80.00

HOME/AWAY

HM/AW RATING

Points to note:-

  • U.A.E. and India are considered as Home for Afghanistan.
  • U.A.E. is also considered as a second home for Pakistan.
  • All Home and Away stats of Pakistani and Afghani batsmen are calculated accordingly.

At Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 Mohammad Rizwan 29 1463 63.61 134.96 837.74 16.75
2 MJ Guptill 51 1835 38.23 152.41 824.29 16.49
3 Babar Azam 49 1764 42.00 132.33 773.98 15.48
4 RG Sharma 51 1488 31.00 147.77 771.66 15.43
5 JC Buttler 20 838 49.29 162.40 761.41 15.23
6 DA Warner 34 1150 41.07 150.52 753.86 15.08
7 Q de Kock 23 736 33.45 150.82 670.33 13.41
8 AJ Finch 35 922 29.74 133.82 616.99 12.34
9 PD Salt 6 258 51.60 200.00 500.00 10.00
10 CH Gayle 16 300 21.43 125.52 463.93 9.28

Away From Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 JC Buttler 42 1469 44.52 153.82 828.00 66.24
2 PD Salt 33 1116 39.86 163.88 827.96 66.24
3 AJ Finch 56 1926 36.34 148.96 813.20 65.06
4 CH Gayle 43 1360 34.87 145.92 808.55 64.68
5 RG Sharma 73 2262 33.76 140.06 797.91 63.83
6 DA Warner 69 1959 31.10 137.67 780.22 62.42
7 Mohammad Rizwan 47 1699 44.71 122.05 750.01 60.00
8 Q de Kock 66 1819 30.32 134.05 733.65 58.69
9 Babar Azam 38 1209 33.58 128.07 715.01 57.20
10 MJ Guptill 51 1335 27.24 125.59 636.88 50.95

FAMILIAR/UNFAMILIAR CONDITIONS

FC/UC RATING

Points to note:-

  • Unfamiliar Conditions (UC) is Outside Asia for Asians and In Asia for Non Asians.
  • Familiar Conditions (FC) are the opposite.

Familiar Conditions Rating

Non Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 PD Salt 24 1057 55.63 178.55 861.70 17.23
2 MJ Guptill 73 2446 35.97 146.03 818.24 16.36
3 JC Buttler 49 1786 43.56 158.47 807.84 16.16
4 AJ Finch 63 2119 37.18 149.02 795.77 15.92
5 DA Warner 73 2171 33.40 143.58 795.34 15.91
6 CH Gayle 40 1156 32.11 144.32 720.24 14.40
7 Q de Kock 58 1617 28.88 145.41 716.87 14.34

Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 Mohammad Rizwan 32 1553 59.73 131.28 762.60 15.25
2 RG Sharma 76 2301 31.96 144.08 751.65 15.03
3 Babar Azam 52 1791 39.80 130.44 686.39 13.73

Unfamiliar Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 DA Warner 30 938 36.08 138.96 891.98 71.36
2 JC Buttler 13 521 57.89 151.45 866.29 69.30
3 Q de Kock 31 938 36.08 127.97 858.39 68.67
4 AJ Finch 28 729 27.00 130.18 770.96 61.68
5 CH Gayle 19 504 29.65 136.22 767.91 61.43
6 MJ Guptill 29 724 24.97 122.30 725.32 58.03
7 PD Salt 15 317 22.64 145.41 637.46 51.00

Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 Mohammad Rizwan 44 1609 45.97 124.44 909.03 72.72
2 RG Sharma 48 1449 33.70 141.37 900.37 72.03
3 Babar Azam 35 1182 35.82 130.75 859.30 68.74

CONDITIONS RATING

The Conditions Rating is the addition of the points a batsman scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 20%.

RANK BATSMAN AWAY HOME UC FC CON PTS
1 JC Buttler 66.24 15.23 69.30 16.16 166.93
2 RG Sharma 63.83 15.43 72.03 15.03 166.33
3 DA Warner 62.42 15.08 71.36 15.91 164.76
4 Mohammad Rizwan 60.00 16.75 72.72 15.25 164.73
5 Babar Azam 57.20 15.48 68.74 13.73 155.15
6 Q de Kock 58.69 13.41 68.67 14.34 155.11
7 AJ Finch 65.06 12.34 61.68 15.92 154.99
8 CH Gayle 64.68 9.28 61.43 14.40 149.80
9 PD Salt 66.24 10.00 51.00 17.23 144.47
10 MJ Guptill 50.95 16.49 58.03 16.36 141.83

SECONDARY CRITERIA

The Secondary Rating consists of three parts. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points. Click on the Rating Titles to see how they were calculated.

The three secondary criteria and thier weightage is as follows:-

CRITERIA POINTS
World Cup 150.00
Impact Innings 150.00
Top Form 100.00
WORLD CUP RATING

Points to note:-

  • Qualifying round is the round in some editions of World Cup in which the main teams don't play.
  • Matches in qualifying round are not considered in our rating.

WORLD CUP

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 3

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 CH Gayle 29 940 36.15 144.39 932.52 139.88
2 JC Buttler 19 708 54.46 150.96 888.32 133.25
3 DA Warner 37 946 27.82 135.53 832.46 124.87
4 RG Sharma 34 952 30.71 131.31 808.18 121.23
5 Q de Kock 27 653 25.12 134.36 705.16 105.77
6 Mohammad Rizwan 17 566 40.43 112.97 667.80 100.17
7 Babar Azam 15 484 34.57 113.62 601.74 90.26
8 AJ Finch 16 458 30.53 119.27 591.88 88.78
9 PD Salt 7 188 37.60 159.32 587.16 88.07
10 MJ Guptill 20 476 23.80 118.70 571.15 85.67
Impact Innings (II)

Impact Innings are those innings which have an impact in terms of Runs or Strike Rate. Know All About II. Points to note about II:-

  • Both Inns are clubbed together.
  • A Batsman should score at least 20 runs to qualify.
  • An Inn is included in II if it is 250% of the total runs of the higher total or
  • The runs are 10.00% of the total runs and
  • The SR is high or in a successful chase while being Not Out.

IMPACT INNINGS

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 15

RANK BATSMAN DIS II II/Dis % RAT WTG
1 JC Buttler 50 26 52.00 910.81 136.62
2 DA Warner 91 31 34.07 724.83 108.72
3 Mohammad Rizwan 61 23 37.70 678.51 101.78
4 RG Sharma 115 34 29.57 674.50 101.18
5 PD Salt 33 13 39.39 629.20 94.38
6 MJ Guptill 97 27 27.84 608.68 91.30
7 AJ Finch 84 24 28.57 579.87 86.98
8 Q de Kock 82 23 28.05 541.37 81.20
9 CH Gayle 53 14 26.42 527.57 79.14
10 Babar Azam 78 20 25.64 464.42 69.66
TOP FORM RATING

Points to note:-

  • Top Form is calculated by taking the best 30 consecutive innings of a batsman.
  • Only Inns against Non Weak Teams are considered in the rating.
  • Non Weak Teams may be found in the last section.

TOP FORM

Min Innings Vs Non Weak Teams: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 PD Salt 30 1174 48.92 173.41 863.54 86.35
2 Mohammad Rizwan 30 1517 63.21 134.01 850.13 85.01
3 DA Warner 30 1183 53.77 146.23 789.35 78.93
4 AJ Finch 30 1184 42.29 155.18 786.81 78.68
5 JC Buttler 30 1140 42.22 162.86 780.49 78.05
6 Babar Azam 30 1243 47.81 137.35 772.52 77.25
7 Q de Kock 30 1160 42.96 144.64 750.61 75.06
8 CH Gayle 30 1029 38.11 146.16 749.97 75.00
9 RG Sharma 30 942 34.89 156.22 732.07 73.21
10 MJ Guptill 30 1022 35.24 153.92 723.06 72.31

SECONDARY RATING

The Secondary Rating is the addition of the points a batsman scored in the three criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 40%.

RANK BATSMAN WC II TF SEC RAT
1 JC Buttler 133.25 136.62 78.05 347.92
2 DA Warner 124.87 108.72 78.93 312.53
3 RG Sharma 121.23 101.18 73.21 295.61
4 CH Gayle 139.88 79.14 75.00 294.01
5 Mohammad Rizwan 100.17 101.78 85.01 286.96
6 PD Salt 88.07 94.38 86.35 268.81
7 Q de Kock 105.77 81.20 75.06 262.04
8 AJ Finch 88.78 86.98 78.68 254.44
9 MJ Guptill 85.67 91.30 72.31 249.28
10 Babar Azam 90.26 69.66 77.25 237.18

OVERALL RATING

OVERALL Rating is the addition of the points of all the above criteria. The rating is out of 1,000 Pts.

RANK BATSMAN NAT PRI PTS CON PTS SEC PTS FIN RAT
1 JC Buttler ENG 329.85 166.93 347.92 844.70
2 DA Warner AUS 323.34 164.76 312.53 800.62
3 RG Sharma IND 334.35 166.33 295.61 796.29
4 Mohammad Rizwan PAK 330.24 164.73 286.96 781.93
5 CH Gayle WI 293.82 149.80 294.01 737.63
6 PD Salt ENG 322.69 144.47 268.81 735.96
7 AJ Finch AUS 310.97 154.99 254.44 720.40
8 Q de Kock SA 297.47 155.11 262.04 714.61
9 MJ Guptill NZ 317.41 141.83 249.28 708.52
10 Babar Azam PAK 310.71 155.15 237.18 703.04

NON WEAK TEAMS

DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
2000s PAK SA SL IND WI AUS NZ ENG BAN
2010s IND SA PAK AUS ENG NZ SL WI BAN AFG
2020s IND AUS ENG NZ PAK SA BAN WI SL US AFG

TOP TEAMS

DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
2000s PAK SA SL IND WI AUS NZ ENG
2010s IND SA PAK AUS ENG NZ SL WI
2020s IND AUS ENG NZ PAK SA BAN WI

* Most of our ratings are dynamic, and as new matches are played, the rating of earlier batsmen may change if current batsmen set new benchmarks.

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