T20I cricket in 2025 didn’t evolve; it fast‑forwarded. Openers started batting like designated finishers, finishers batted like they’d been in from ball one, and mystery spinners turned middle overs into a tactical chokehold.
Rankings were shattered, records rewritten, and a handful of players dragged the format into an even more unforgiving, numbers‑driven age.
Here is ProSports’ T20I XI of 2025:
Abhishek Sharma (India)
The young Indian cricketer was the standout T20I batter of 2025. Opening for India, he combined volume with extreme intent and finished the year as the No. 1-ranked T20I batter, recording the highest ICC T20I batting rating in history, surpassing Dawid Malan’s previous best.
He became the fastest player to 1,000 T20I runs in terms of balls faced, reaching the mark in just 569 deliveries. His strike rate in internationals remained exceptionally high, and he was the top run-scorer in the T20 Asia Cup 2025, piling up 314 runs at a strike rate well above 200. On pure T20I dominance, no other opener came close.
Tim Seifert (New Zealand)
The Kiwi wicketkeeper batter’s year was interrupted by injury, but when he played, he changed games. His defining T20I knock came against Pakistan, where he smashed an unbeaten 97 off 38 balls, including 10 sixes, to seal a series win for New Zealand.
Mitchell Marsh (Australia)
Mitchell Marsh was central to Australia’s T20I setup in 2025 as both captain and top-order batter. He delivered his first T20I century with a match-winning 103 off 52 balls against New Zealand*, securing a series victory in a chase.
Across series against New Zealand and India, Marsh repeatedly produced substantial, high-tempo knocks, including scores in the 80s and 40s, while leading the side.
Harry Brook (England)
Harry Brook took over from Jos Buttler as England’s T20I and ODI captain in 2025 and carried a heavy workload in the shortest format. He played 52 T20Is throughout the year and scored 1,012 runs, averaging 31 with a strike rate of around 152, with a top score of *81.
In October, during a T20I against New Zealand, he became the 10th England batter to pass 1,000 T20I runs, reaching the milestone in his 51st appearance while smashing 78 off 35 in that same game. Despite mixed team results, his output and responsibility as captain lock him into the middle order.
Dewald Brevis (South Africa)
This young batter had a breakout T20I year for South Africa after returning to the national side in mid-2025. He lit up a series against Australia with an unbeaten 125 off 56 balls, the highest T20I score by a South African and the second-fastest T20I hundred ever.
He also broke his own national record for the quickest T20I fifty in that series. Brevis averaged over 40 at a blazing strike rate in T20Is and became one of the most feared power-hitters in international cricket before a shoulder injury in November cut short his season.
Tim David (Australia)
Tim David was one of Australia’s biggest T20I weapons in 2025, redefining the finisher role at the international level. His landmark innings came against the West Indies, where he hammered the fastest T20I century by an Australian, an unbeaten 102 off 37 balls in a successful chase.
In T20Is through 2025, he maintained a staggering strike rate above 210 and averaged over 100. He was also Player of the Series in a T20I contest against South Africa, confirming his status as one of the most dangerous late-overs batters in the international game.
Mohammad Nawaz (Pakistan)
Mohammad Nawaz was Pakistan’s standout T20I performer in 2025 and one of the format’s best all-rounders. As a left-arm spinner, he finished the year as the leading T20I wicket-taker among full-member nations, taking 36 wickets in 26 T20Is at an average of 13.16 and an economy rate of 6.7.
With the bat, he added 362 runs at a strike rate of about 138, regularly chipping in with useful lower-order runs. He collected multiple Player of the Series awards: seven wickets against West Indies, 10 wickets and 120 runs in the UAE tri-series (including a hat-trick and a five-for in the final vs Afghanistan), and another dominant display in a home tri-series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. On T20I form alone, he was one of the year’s most complete cricketers.
Jacob Duffy (New Zealand)
Jacob Duffy was among the most effective T20I seamers of 2025. He claimed around 35 T20I wickets over the year, contributing to a total of more than 80 international wickets across formats, and was frequently referenced as the No. 2-ranked T20I bowler worldwide.
He combined a wicket-taking average in the mid-teens with a very high dot-ball percentage, routinely applying pressure in the powerplay and at the death. Duffy’s consistency and ability to deliver match-winning spells, particularly against the West Indies, made him a go-to new-ball option for New Zealand.
Shaheen Shah Afridi (Pakistan)
Shaheen Afridi remained Pakistan’s primary T20I strike bowler and hit new milestones in 2025. Across roughly 21 T20Is, he took around 26 wickets at an economy rate of about 7.4 and a strike rate near 17.
He was central to Pakistan’s Asia Cup 2025 campaign, including figures of 3 for 17 against Bangladesh in a key Super Four clash, and moved past Shadab Khan to become Pakistan’s second-highest T20I wicket-taker, behind Haris Rauf. He also delivered significant spells against South Africa and Afghanistan and collected his 10th T20I Player of the Match award, the most by any fast bowler in T20I history.
Kuldeep Yadav (India)
Kuldeep Yadav had a standout T20I year for India, emerging as a key middle-overs weapon. He took 21 wickets in 10 T20Is at an average of 13.19 and an economy of 7.08.
He dominated the T20 Asia Cup 2025, finishing as the tournament’s highest wicket-taker with 17 wickets in seven matches, a record for a single edition. His 4 for 7 against the UAE in the opening game and 4 for 30 in the final against Pakistan were decisive in India’s title win. After years of fluctuating selection, 2025 re-established him as India’s premier T20I spinner.
Varun Chakravarthy (India)
Varun Chakravarthy produced a career-defining T20I season for India in 2025. The mystery spinner finished as the joint-highest T20I wicket-taker among Test-nation bowlers, with 36 wickets in 20 matches (18 innings).
He averaged roughly 13.19 with the ball and conceded just over seven runs per over, superb returns for a spinner in the format. His best spell, 5 for 24 against England in January, set up a series-defining win. Chakravarthy climbed to No. 1 in the ICC T20I bowling rankings, reaching a rating of 818, and dominated a December series against South Africa, where he was Player of the Series. His variations and control made him the most feared spin bowler in T20Is through 2025.
