Whilst there is no live cricket at the moment plenty of fans are filling their time by picking their best XI’s or ranking the greatest players. However, if you’re now getting bored of this here is a new question to ponder will a batsman ever make a double century in T20 cricket?
The idea of a single batsman scoring 200 runs in a T20 innings sounds ridiculous but on the other hand might just be possible, after all the highest individual score by a batsman is 175 just 25 runs short of the 200 mark.
Below is a list of the ten current batsman who are most likely to achieve a 200 either in an international T20 or in a domestic T20 league.
10 – Martin Guptill
Matches – 253 High Score – 120* 100’s – 4 Strike Rate – 130.78
Martin Guptill has been a key member of the New Zealand white ball sides for a number of years now and has played in T20 leagues across the world. When discussing big hitting players Guptill perhaps doesn’t get the credit he deserves, this is perhaps because he has never made a major impact in the IPL. Guptill’s best display of his big hitting ability came in the 2015 Cricket World Cup quarter final against West Indies when he made 237 not out from 163 balls.
Although the knock against West Indies came in an ODI, it demonstrated Guptill’s power. His record in T20’s is perhaps not the most eye-catching on this list but one thing Guptill has in his favour is Eden Park. New Zealand regularly play home T20 internationals at the venue which is famous for its notoriously short boundaries, if there was ground for a T20 200 then Eden Park is the perfect place for it.
9 – Tom Banton
Matches – 34 High Score – 100 100’s – 1 Strike Rate – 157.33
England has plenty of big hitting batsman who could have easily appeared on this list but Banton’s youth makes him the most likely candidate. At just 21 Banton has many years at the top level to come and with the future of cricket likely to be dominated by T20 he will have many opportunities to hit a 200.
Having had his break out season with Somerset during the 2019 Vitality Blast, Banton has secured contracts in the BBL with Brisbane Heat, in the PSL with Peshawar Zalmi and the IPL with Kolkata Knight Riders making him with one of the most in demand T20 cricketers.
During England’s tour of New Zealand last year Banton made his international debut in the T20 format where his strike rate is slightly higher than his career strike rate currently being 164.70 on the international stage.
8 – Paul Stirling
Matches – 217 High Score – 109 100’s – 1 Strike Rate – 142.19
Paul Stirling is perhaps the most suppressing name on this list, however if you have watched him bat in a T20 you will know exactly why he is featuring. When Stirling gets going he is one of the most destructive batsman in world cricket. This was seen most recently during the first T20 between Ireland and the West Indies back in January when Stirling made 95 of just 47 balls.
Unfortunately for Stirling he does not get the credit he deserves with Ireland getting very little publicity on the international stage. Stirling also hardly appears in any of the major domestic T20 leagues outside of the T20 Blast in England where he has been a key player for Middlesex.
These factors though won’t hinder Stirling’s chances of a T20 double hundred though as the international cricket Ireland does play is usually against associate nations meaning the quality of option isn’t the same at the top-level meaning Stirling is able to boss most of the attacks he faces.
7- Rohit Sharma
Matches – 328 High Score – 118 100’s – 6 Strike Rate – 133.71
Rohit Sharma is one of the greats of the modern game who combines an attacking style of play with elegant cricket shots. Sharma’s best moments have come in the 50 over game where has already made three ODI double hundreds. His ability to construct big innings in one – day cricket could easily be transferred into the twenty over game.
With the Mumbai Indians in the IPL, Sharma has the luxury of playing his home games at the Wankhede Stadium which often produces one of the best batting wickets in the IPL.
Sharma has everything in his game that a player would need to score a T20 double hundred but the big disadvantage he has compared to the other players on this list is that due to the BCCI’s rules he is only able to play international cricket for India and the IPL.
6 – Andre Russell
Matches – 321 High Score – 121* 100’s – 2 Strike Rate – 171.29
Arguably the most in demand player on the T20 circuit make no mistake if Russell was an opening batsman he would be much higher up on this list. Russell’s game is all about power and smashing the ball over the boundary.
Dre Russ has shown his ability of hitting massive sixes across the world and played some memorable innings including hitting an unbeaten 121 for Jamaica Tallawahs against Trinbago Knight Riders in the 2018 CPL batting at number seven.
During the 2019 IPL Russell took his game to another level and at times felt like he was hitting every ball for six. Russell finished the season with 510 runs at an average of 56.66 and a strike rate of 204.81 and hit 52 sixes, which was 18 more than the next best Chris Gayle.
If one of Russell’s teams could have him open or bat at number three, the results would be record breaking and devastating.
5 – Hazratullah Zazai
Matches – 49 High Score – 162* 100’s – 2 Strike Rate – 149.39
Not yet a household, Zazai is a part of a group of exciting young cricketers out of Afghanistan. At just 22 Zazai has already proved what a dangerous batsman he can be. In just his fifth innings for Afghanistan in T20I’s he smashed 162 of just 62 balls against Ireland hitting an incredible 16 sixes in the process.
Zazai is also part of an exclusive list of players who have achieved the feat of hitting six sixes in an over. He accomplished this during the 2018 Afghanistan Premier League playing for Kabul Zwanan. His innings for Kabul saw him make 62 of 17 balls striking at 364.71.
If Zazai can keep up this form in T20’s he will undoubtable find himself playing in more of the T20 leagues across the world.
4 – AB De Villiers
Matches – 310 High Score – 133* 100’s – 4 Strike Rate – 149.77
Most players could only dream of doing what AB De Villiers can do on a cricket field. Nicknamed Mr 360 for his ability to hit the ball where ever he wants De Villiers holds the record for fastest 50,100 and 150 in ODI’s. De Villiers is a fantastic batsman in all three forms of the game and has played some of the all-time great innings for South Africa.
However, in T20’s De Villiers best form has always come in the IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Three of his four centuries have come for RCB and formed part of their dream batting line up alongside Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli. De Villiers has had many memorable moments for the franchise including hitting fellow Proteas team mate Dale Steyn for 23 of a single over.
In order to achieve a double hundred De Villiers will need to consistently bat higher up the order something he didn’t always do for South Africa which is part of the reason why his international record isn’t as great as his domestic one.
At 36 now cricket fans across the globe hope there is still lots more to come from De Villiers and it would surprise nobody if he became the first to hit a T20 double hundred.
3 – Chris Gayle
Matches – 404 High Score – 175* 100’s – 22 Strike Rate – 146.94
The undisputed king of T20 cricket, Gayle was born for this format and made it his own. The Universe Boss holds many T20 cricket records including highest individual score (175*), fastest 100 (30 balls), joint fastest 50 (12 balls), Most career runs (13,296), most career sixes (978) and most sixes in an innings (18).
Gayle has proven himself time and again in various T20 leagues throughout the world but like so many other it’s in the IPL where he has been at his best.
His 175* against Pune Warriors India in 2013 remains the highest score in T20 cricket. The record shattering innings saw Gayle make his 175 of just 66 balls including 13 fours and 17 sixes at strike rate of 265.15. It was this innings that proved a 200 in a T20 is a possibility with Gayle finishing just 25 short of the mile stone, had a few of them fours ended up going all the way or had he converted some of his 18 dot balls into runs we could already have the first T20 double hundred.
Had Gayle been ten or even five years younger he would have easily topped this list but with him turning 41 in September one can’t help but think he has missed his chance for a T20 200, although you should never write Chris Gayle of.
2 – Chris Lynn
Matches – 184 High Score – 113* 100’s – 2 Strike Rate – 144.15
For some of the players on this list we have looked at their records in 50 over cricket as platform as to why they could hit a T20 double hundred for Chris Lynn all you need to do is look at one innings in the Abu Dhabi T10 League as to why he could achieve it.
Whilst playing for the Maratha Arabians Lynn made 91 not out of just 30 balls going at a strike rate of 303.33 before his side’s compulsory 10 overs came to an end. Had this been a T20 match with Lynn facing another 30 balls he probably would have pushed that 200 mark very close.
Lynn is now almost exclusively a T20 specialist playing in leagues across the world from Australia to Canada. Lynn has yet to establish himself in Australia’s international side but with the destructive power he possesses it’s only a matter of time before he makes an impact on the international stage.
1 – Aaron Finch
Matches – 284 High Score – 172 100’s – 8 Strike Rate – 143.75
Playing in an Australia side that contains both David Warner and Glenn Maxwell, Finch stands out as Australia’s best T20 batsman and is the number one batsman in the world likely to make a T20 double hundred.
Finch’s 172 against Zimbabwe in 2018 is the closest anyone has come to overtaking Gayle’s 175. The innings against Zimbabwe saw Finch hit his 172 of 76 balls ten more than it took for Gayle to make his 175. Finch’s innings included a total of 26 boundaries compared to Gayle’s total of 30. Breaking down the innings you can easily see that a 200 for Finch could have been possible with just a few more boundaries.
It’s not just this innings against Zimbabwe which makes Finch the most likely to be the first to get to 200, half of his T20 hundreds have seen him score 115 plus and at just 33 Finch still has plenty of time to achieve that T20 double hundred.