The international version of the T20 format saw its 1000th game being played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, where the Indians were stunned by a spirited Bangladeshi performance.
Nevertheless, it marked a historic occasion and in just 13 years of its existence, the format has had an impact on the game like no other. This format introduced fearlessness, creativity, and also made the life of bowlers a bit more difficult.
There were some myths haunting the format in its initial years like the art of wrist-spin coming to an end and cricket losing its status as the gentleman’s game, but as it turns out, the wrist-spinners became a very important facet in the shortest format and the second one, well, its arguable.
On this wonderful occasion, let’s rate the ten best teams among the T20 leagues across the world.
5. Leicestershire Foxes
Leicestershire County Cricket Club’s limited overs team is called the Leicestershire Foxes and in the history of T20 Blast, which was formed in 2003, no team won more titles than them.
They’re one of the oldest and most versatile T20 teams one can come across, signing up a bunch of future stars on a consistent basis and also doing well in the tournament pretty much every time. Currently led by Colin Ackerman, the Foxes failed to reach the knockout stages of the recently concluded edition but have been a humongous force nevertheless.
It has been a long time since they last won the trophy, having winning it in 2004, 2006 and 2011. Interestingly, the three times they reached the final, they ended up winning it. They had some stellar names from the shortest format like Brad Hodge, Abdul Razzaq, Darren Maddy and also English legend Stuart Broad.
Their final against the Nott Laws in 2006 is also rated as one of the finest T20 games ever played, where they won the trophy by a slender margin of 4 runs.
4. Titans
Just the way the teams mentioned in this list have dominated one or the other tournament, Titans too have done the same in South Africa’s T20 challenge (Had its name changed thrice due to sponsorship reasons).
Another point to be noted is that they won more league titles than any other in the given list, winning the T20 challenge a staggering six times. The Titans is an amalgamation of two cities, Centurion and Benoni. They have been winning the T20 Challenge since the last three seasons and are becoming an indomitable force to deal with. In the Champions League, they qualified twice, reaching the semifinals once and finishing in the group stages the other time.
Some of their finest players have been the Morkel brothers, Farhan Behardien, Aiden Markram and Henry Davids. Although there are talks going on about a new tournament replacing the existing one, it will be interesting to see if anyone can close to what the Titans have achieved.
3. Perth Scorchers
After losing the final so closely in the first two editions, Perth Scorchers were not keen on giving up in the Big Bash League and came back even stronger in 2014, winning their first title. A period of ruthless dominance in the Australian domestic circuit began with that win as the Scorchers made a mockery of the other teams with their breathtaking consistency.
They won 2015 final off the last ball, a game famously remembered as Brett Lee’s last international game. They won the tournament again in 2017 and only twice in their history, they failed to reach the final of the tournament. Incidentally, in both those seasons, they finished top of the table in the group stages and lost in the semifinals. Five finals, three titles and a staggering 7 out of 7 finishes in the top four – Perth Scorchers always manage to crank up the heat wherever they go.
Their squad lost some of its main players to IPL teams in the Champions League 2012 and 2013, or else they definitely would’ve done a much better job than just finishing in the group stages
2. Mumbai Indians
Many would perhaps debate for Mumbai Indians to be the best in the world, but for some reasons which shall be explained in the next slide, they’re second on this list. What they achieved in the last 13 years has been beyond remarkable and a lot of credit goes to the outstanding support staff they manage to rope in, who instill the winning-mentality in the side.
Mumbai Indians struggled to do anything significant in the first two seasons, but with the emergence of Kieron Pollard in 2010 and Malinga starting to show his true colors, they started becoming a huge force. They reached the finals back then and the next four times they got to that stage, they ensured the cup was in their hands.
Besides the five IPL titles they won, which also is the highest for any IPL team, Mumbai also triumphed twice in the Champions League. Without debate, this team has a lot more to offer to the cricketing world and will achieve many more accolades in the coming future.
1.Chennai Super Kings
Needless to say, perhaps the greatest T20 unit of all time – Chennai Super Kings asserted a level of dominance which has not been paralleled in this industry. 10-time semifinalists in the IPL, 3 time-winners, 5-time runners-up and only thrice in their history, they failed to reach the finals. Besides that, two Champions League titles as well. Isn’t that outrageous?
Suresh Raina has been the heartbeat of this side with MS Dhoni being the soul carrying the body forward. They have had some exceptional players over the years like Michael Hussey, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, who played a pivotal role in making the club what it is.
CSK also has an extravagant fan base, which goes beyond the borders of Tamil Nadu. MS Dhoni’s presence is one of the biggest reasons behind it and it will take something unseen and unheard to get on parallel terms with this side.
Comments are closed.