Former West Indian cricketer Nicholas Pooran has revealed his list of the top five T20 batsmen of all time, a list that is a mix of familiar names and some unexpected players. The left-handed batsman ruled out legendary wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni despite winning five IPL titles and a T20 World Cup as captain.
Pooran retired from international cricket earlier this year at just 29 years old. The wicketkeeper-batsman made his international debut in a T20I against Pakistan in 2016 and later made his ODI debut in 2019. He retired as the country’s most capped player in T20Is. The batsman was last seen playing during the CPL 2025 season.
Nicholas Pooran picks top 5 T20 batsmen of all time
Nicholas Pooran has named two legendary West Indies cricketers, Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard, as the greatest T20 players of all time.
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Gayle is the leading scorer in T20 cricket. He scored 14,562 runs in 463 matches, including 22 centuries and 88 half-centuries, at an average of over 36 and a strike rate of 144.75. Gayle played a key role in helping West Indies win the T20 World Cup titles in 2012 and 2016.
Pollard is the second highest run-scorer in this format. The all-rounder scored 14,237 runs in 720 matches and also took 333 wickets with the ball. Pollard has been part of teams that have won numerous titles in domestic leagues around the world.
He also helped West Indies win the 2012 World Cup. The veteran cricketer is also the batting coach for Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Nicholas Pooran selects Virat Kohli of AB de Villiers in the list
Nicholas Pooran has named England batsman Jos Buttler, who has exceptional numbers in this format. Buttler played 473 T20 matches and scored 13,507 runs at an average of over 35 runs and a strike rate of 135.63. The wicketkeeper-batsman led England to their second T20 World Cup title in 2022.
Pooran joins Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) icons Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in the top five. Kohli is one of the top run-scorers with 4,188 runs in T20Is at an average of 48.69. He was also the top run-getter in IPL, scoring 8,661 runs and scoring 800 runs in 267 matches.
The 36-year-old batsman helped India win the 2024 T20 World Cup. He also helped Royal Challengers Bangalore win their first IPL title in 2025.
De Villiers holds the record for the most Player of the Match awards in IPL history (25). He is eighth among IPL top scorers with 5,162 runs at a strike rate of 151.68. Known as one of the most feared T20 batsmen of his era, he dominated the attack no matter the conditions.
Nicholas Poulan concentrates on world T20 leagues
Nicholas Pooran ended his international career as West Indies’ most experienced T20I cricketer. He scored 2,275 runs at a strike rate of 136.39 in 106 matches, including 13 half-centuries.
Pooran plans to focus entirely on the global T20 league, where he has already built an impressive record. He has scored 9,166 runs at a strike rate of over 150 in 398 T20 matches, including three centuries and 56 half-centuries.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have retained him for the 2025 season for a whopping sum of Rs 2.10 crore. He scored 524 runs in 14 matches at an average of 43.66 at an impressive strike rate of 196.25, including five half-centuries.
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