Former Indian cricketer Saba Karim chose former Indian captain Rohit Sharma as the best batsman in Twenty20 cricket. In the blindfold test conducted with ESPNcricinfo, the former cricketer had to go through a tough challenge, which he faced with ease.
For the challenge, there were a total of 6 batsmen, all of whom were monsters in their days in T20 cricket. From the Caribbean islands, there were Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, England’s Jos Buttler, Australia’s David Warner and Indian batsman Virat Kohli, who were all part of the blindfold test.
Former India keeper-batsman Saba Karim faced the test blindfolded
As per the rule of blindfold test, the name of the nominee will be popped without revealing all the names one by one. The participant facing the challenge must rank the players based on their credibility and perceptions of the player. Because the person who is in front of the camera does not know which player’s name is going to come next.
The challenge Saba Karim faced started with West Indies cricket legend Chris Gayle, followed by his compatriot Kieron Pollard. Karim placed Gayle at fourth position and Pollard at sixth position. David Warner and Jos Buttler are at fifth and fourth positions respectively.
The contest for the first two places was Virat Kohli vs Rohit Sharma
After keeping Gayle, Pollard, Warner and Buttler, only two places were left. The contest for first and second place was between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Saba Karim placed Kohli at second place and Sharma at the top of the rankings. According to the former Indian keeper-batsman, Rohit Sharma is the best batsman in this format. And he is happy with the ranking achieved through the blindfold test.
Karim explained why he was happy with Rohit Sharma being at the top compared to Virat Kohli. Notably, among all the names mentioned, England keeper-batsman Jos Buttler, who played in the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2026, was the only cricketer who is still active in the format.
Saba Karim explains why she chose Sharma for the top spot
Saba Karim, who played 1 Test and 34 ODIs for India, said he was happy with his choice as he ranked the better performers based on consistency, performance and the impact they made.
“Based on consistency and performance in franchise leagues as well as T20 internationals. It’s not about numbers, it’s about impact,” the former cricketer explained.
Who according to you is the best T20 batsman of all time? pic.twitter.com/v1yef4Yvsf
– ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) 12 March 2026
After MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma was the first captain to lead India to the T20 World Cup trophy. The right-handed batsman retired from T20 Internationals soon after winning the 2024 T20 World Cup title.
Rohit Sharma’s T20I record
| Duration | mat | Inn | No | it goes | HS | average | BF | sr | 100s | 50’s | 0 | 4s | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-2024 | 159 | 151 | 19 | 4231 | 121* | 32.05 | 3003 | 140.89 | 5 | 32 | 12 | 383 | 205 |
Before retiring, ‘Hitman’ had scored 4,231 runs in 159 T20Is. He scored five centuries and 32 half-centuries in this particular format, while his batting average is 32.50 with a strike rate of 140.89.
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