Mustafiz in Wisden's Men's T20 Team of the Year
Bangladesh’s left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman has earned a place in the Men’s T20 Team of the Year selected by the cricket website Wisden following his outstanding performances for the national team and various franchise T20 leagues last year.
With the 2026 T20 World Cup approaching, the number of international matches in this format increased late last year, alongside various franchise T20 leagues throughout the year.
Wisden has stated on its website that this best XI was chosen after evaluating performances across all recognised T20 matches.
Regarding Mustafiz’s performances last year, the website wrote that among bowlers who delivered at least 150 overs, no one came close to Mustafizur’s bowling average of 18.03 in 2025. No pacer this year was as economical, and only Jason Holder had a better strike rate. He consistently restricted runs and took wickets throughout the year.
In recognised T20s last year, Mustafiz took 59 wickets in 43 innings, conceding 6.78 runs per over with a strike rate of 15.9. His best bowling figures were three wickets for 11 runs. He bowled a total of 156.5 overs in this format last year. Caribbean pace all-rounder Jason Holder bowled 250.2 overs and took a maximum of 97 wickets, with a strike rate of 15.4 but an average of 21.42.
The best XI comprises two specialist spinners, two pacers, and two pace-bowling all-rounders. In spin, India’s Varun Chakravarti joins Sunil Narine, while in pace, Mustafizur Rahman is accompanied by New Zealand’s Jacob Duffy, and the pace-bowling all-rounders are Sam Curran and Holder.
India’s Abhishek Sharma and England’s Phil Salt open the batting. Abhishek scored three centuries across all recognised T20s last year, with a remarkable strike rate of 202.01. He scored a total of 1,602 runs in 40 innings at an average of 41.07, also taking 10 wickets. Wisden noted that he is the first cricketer to score over 1,000 runs in a single T20 calendar year while averaging two runs per ball.
Salt scored 1,575 runs in 52 innings at a strike rate of 153.35, and for England and in the IPL, he batted at a strike rate of 176. He is also the team’s wicketkeeper.
The best XI also features South Africa’s Dwaine Pretorius, Donovan Ferreira, and Australia’s Tim David. Wisden’s editorial team considers Ferreira one of the best at hitting boundaries in the middle overs, having struck a six every 6.6 balls and a four every 3.9 balls last year.
Pretorius batted at a strike rate above 180 across three franchise T20 leagues (IPL, SA T20, and The Hundred) last year, often occupying positions three to seven in the batting order at a strike rate above 170.