When we look at individual performances, most of the top scorers and wicket-takers are from the second-rung teams such as Afghanistan, Ireland and Netherlands who have played relatively more matches than the major teams.
Batting:
Most runs (500 or more):
The two top-scorers are from Ireland and the next two from the Netherlands. KJ O’Brien has made a Test century. But no one here is from the major teams.
Highest innings (100 or more):
Again, the top 3 are not from the major teams. H Zazai’s 162* is the highest T20I score for Afghanistan (and the second in all T20Is after AJ Finch’s 172 in 2018).
There are some players from the major teams such as GJ Maxwell, DJ Malan and DA Warner plus a sprinkling from lesser-ranked teams such as Austria, Romania and the Czech Republic among others.
Bowling:
Most wickets (20 or more):
The first few are from the Netherlands, Nepal and Ireland. The better-known players such as Rashid Khan and MJ Santner just make the cut.
Best innings bowling (including all instances of 5+ wickets):
Here we have the best performance by DL Chahar from India – but the next two are from Argentina and Luxembourg. The veteran Malinga, Rashid Khan and a couple from England are the other known players here.
Fielding:
Most dismissals (12 and above):
Apart from KJ O’Brien and DA Miller, there are no familiar names. The most dismissals by a keeper are 26 by SA Edwards of the Netherlands, and by a non-keeper 17 by BDH Stevens of Jersey.
Most dismissals in an innings (4 or more):
DA Miller of SA is in 3rd place with 4 catches as a non-keeper. Also by de Grandhomme and Ramdin, while the best performance is by players from Kenya and PNG.
All-round match performances (30 runs and 3 wickets):
Familiar names here are SC Williams (Zim), Rohan Mustafa (UAE) and CJ Jordan (Eng). The best performance would be by S Davizi of the Czech Republic and SC Williams.
To sum up, the increased “democratization” of T20I cricket will mean more opportunities for teams beyond the to 10 or 12 and a hope that one day they will be able to compete with them. Players with South Asian names can be found all over, especially in the European teams.
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