Best T20 XI of 2019
It wasn't a year for T20s in international cricket. With all the teams focusing on the World Cup, the shortest format of the game took a back-seat. While some of the teams played second-string sides in the T20s, the others avoided playing them altogether.
However, once the World Cup was done and dusted, the teams shifted their focus back to T20s - partly in order to prepare for next year's T20 World Cup.
With less than a year remaining for the mega event, the teams would want to put their best foot forward and play as many T20s as possible.
In the year 2019, a lot of fresh faces got a chance to grab the limelight. On that note, here is our best T20 XI of the year.
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Note: Only players from the top 10 T20 teams have been considered.
Openers
Rohit Sharma (Matches - 14, Runs - 396, Average - 28.29, Strike-rate - 138.62)
Rohit Sharma had a memorable 2019 as he performed brilliantly in all three formats. His performance in T20s was once again pretty good.
Rohit scored 396 runs in 14 games at a decent average of 28.29. As his high strike-rate of 138.62 suggests, he took the attack to the opposition and gave the team rapid starts - which allowed the batsmen to follow to play themselves in and help the team reach big totals.
The Indian vice-captain hit 4 half-centuries in the year too.
KL Rahul (Matches - 9, Runs - 356, Average - 44.50, Strike-rate - 142.40)
Even though KL Rahul's year was marked with a few off-field controversies and his axe from the Test side amidst huge criticism about his approach to the game, his performance in T20s was exceptional.
Rahul, who at times was asked to bat in the middle-order as Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan were the team's first-choice openers, didn't let anything affect his game as he scored 356 runs at an average of 44.50 and strike-rate of 142.40.
Rahul has been in top form in T20s and could well become India's first-choice opener soon.