The ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year 2025 The race is turning into a blockbuster clash between the explosive batsmen and impressive spinners who have ruled the shortest format throughout the calendar year. With major bilateral series and a packed T20I schedule, India, England, Pakistan And new zealand The performances have created clear top tier contenders, based on consistency, impact in big moments and excellent statistics.
Top 5 contenders for ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year 2025
- Abhishek Sharma
- Run: 859
- Average/Strike Rate: 95 / 193.46
- Milestones: Scored 1 century and 5 half-centuries in 21 innings.
- specific performance: His 135 against a top team helped win the match, capping India’s run in a high-stakes bilateral series, symbolizing their emergence as a T20I powerhouse.
Abhishek Sharma has made the strongest case for the 2025 honour, redefining for an entire calendar year what a T20I opener can do. The left-handed batsman scored 859 T20I runs in 21 matches in 2025 at an average of 42.95 and an astonishing strike rate of 193.46, which included one century, five half-centuries and a highest score of 135. No other Indian batsman could match his volume and rate of run scoring, and his numbers have been widely highlighted as one of the best by an Indian in T20s in the same year.
His powerplay aggression consistently kept India ahead in the game, while the social and analytical figures showed he hit 85 fours and 54 sixes in those 21 T20Is – extraordinary boundary numbers at the international level. Abhishek also scored 1,602 runs in all T20s (India, IPL and domestic) in 2025, the second best annual figure by an Indian in this format behind Virat Kohli’s 2016 figure, underscoring his dominance beyond the international arena.
- Phil Salt
- Run: 434
- Average/Strike Rate: 40 / 175.70
- Milestones: Scored 1 century and 3 half-centuries in 11 innings.
- specific performance: His unbeaten 141* off 60 balls at the record venue took England to their highest T20I total and cemented their position as a global T20 force.
England opener Phil Salt has had a stellar T20I year, which keeps him in the awards conversation despite fewer games than some rivals. In 2025, Salt scored 434 T20I runs, with an average of 43.40 and a strike rate of 175.70, including one century and three half-centuries and a best score of 141*, placing him among the most destructive top-order batsmen of the format. His ability to turn games around in the powerplay has been a central part of England’s highly aggressive white-ball strategy and has helped push them into the top tier of the T20I batting rankings.
Salt’s success has also translated into the global T20 leagues, where he remained among the top ten run-scorers in all of T20 cricket in 2025, with over 1,400 runs and a strike rate above 156, further solidifying his qualification as the match-winner of the year. The franchise’s demand, which includes a high-profile IPL deal, reflects the premium placed on his fearless bowling and consistency.
- Varun Chakraborty
- Wicket: 36
- Average / Economy / Strike Rate: 19 / 7.08 / 11.16
- Milestones: Achieved 1 four-wicket haul and 1 five-wicket haul in 18 innings.
- specific performance: He bowled brilliantly of 5/24 in a decisive match, demolishing the opposition middle order and winning the player of the series award in the home win over South Africa.
Varun Chakravarthy has been the most prominent T20I spinner of 2025, having had a golden year that has rewritten many Indian and global standards. The mystery spinner finished the calendar year with 36 wickets in 20 matches (18 innings) at an average of 13.19 and an economy rate of 7.08, including both four-wicket hauls and five-wicket hauls, and best figures of 5/24. This figure makes him India’s highest wicket-taker in T20Is for 2025 and jointly tops the Full Member nations with Pakistan’s Mohammad Nawaz.
Varun’s influence especially South Africa This was evident in the home series against India, where he took 10 wickets in four matches, at an average of 11.20, winning the best player of the series award and leading India to a 3–1 win. Statistically, his 36 wickets also place him just one wicket behind the Indian record of 37 T20I wickets in a calendar year, further underlining the historic nature of his 2025 campaign.
- Mohammad Nawaz
- Wicket: 36
- Average / Economy / Strike Rate: 61 / 6.56 / 12.44
- Milestones: Recorded 1 five-wicket haul in 24 innings.
- specific performance: Bowling a career-best 5/19 in a pressure-packed match, taking breakthroughs in the middle overs, helped seal the series for Pakistan.
Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz has quietly compiled one of the most dominant T20I bowling years ever by a spinner from a Full Member nation. In 2025, Nawaz took 36 wickets in 26 T20Is, with an exceptional average of 13.61 and economy rate of 6.56, including a five-wicket haul and best figures of 5/19, placing him at the top of the calendar year wicket charts alongside Chakravarthy. Many record lists now show Nawaz as holding or sharing the record for most T20I wickets in a year among Pakistan bowlers.
Apart from the ball, Pakistan’s social summary of the season shows that Nawaz also scored over 350 T20I runs and several match-turning cameos, making his all-round assessment a key factor in his case for the award. His ability to maintain control while bowling in the powerplay, middle overs and final overs has made him Pakistan’s most reliable T20 performer in 2025.
- jacob duffy
- Wicket: 35
- Average / Economy / Strike Rate: 08 / 7.47 / 12.11
- Milestones: Achieved 3 four-wicket hauls in 20 innings.
- specific performance: A lethal bowling haul of 4/14 in a high-tension encounter, collapsing the batting order, helped rescue a modest total and give New Zealand a lead in the series.
New Zealand fast bowler jacob duffy He figures in the top five after a breakout year that has made him one of the most prolific T20I fast bowlers in the world. The right-arm bowler took 35 wickets in 21 T20Is in 2025, at an average of 15.08, economy rate of 7.47 and strike rate of 12.11, including three four-wicket hauls and best figures of 4/14. This performance makes him the first Kiwi bowler to take more than 30 T20I wickets in a calendar year, a milestone widely celebrated in New Zealand media and fan circles.
Duffy’s success has come in a variety of circumstances, including a high-impact series against Pakistan, where he took 13 wickets in five matches and quickly climbed the ICC T20I bowling rankings. His consistent wicket-taking ability has made him New Zealand’s new T20I leader and an outsider but genuine contender for the global prize.
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