Can your T20I XI beat the World XI?

How it works

1. Spin. Each spin draws a nation and a decade (the 2000s, 2010s or 2020s). There are 29 possible draws, and a spin never repeats one you have had.
2. Draft. Six spins give you eleven picks: one from the first spin and two from each of the others. You fill fixed spots: two openers, three middle-order batters, one wicketkeeper, two all-rounders or spinners, and three fast bowlers.
3. Play the series. Your XI plays five T20Is against the World XI. You see the scoreline, the story of each match, and how strong your batting, bowling and fielding were.

Who you can pick

The T20I game has 588 player cards. A player needs at least 10 matches to be in it. Each draw shows at most 25 players: the ones who played most for that side in that period, with every role covered. The cards show real career numbers only. No player rating is shown at any point, so the choice is your judgement.

• Ten nations can be drawn: Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe.
• Afghanistan players cannot be drafted, because their matches are missing from the match data. Rashid Khan is in the World XI all the same, from his official career figures.
• T20 internationals began in 2005, so the 2000s draws are smaller than the later ones.

What decides the result

Every player is compared with every other player in the T20I game. Batters are measured on strike rate most of all (40%), then batting average, runs per match and how often they passed fifty (20% each). Bowlers are measured on economy rate most of all (40%), then bowling average, wickets per match and balls per wicket (20% each). All-rounders are measured on both. Long careers count for more than short ones, and a brilliant short career is pulled back toward the average.

A team’s score is 40% batting, 50% bowling and 10% fielding (catches and stumpings per match). The gap between your score and the World XI’s decides the series, with a small element of luck that is always the same for the same XI.

The World XI

The XI you have to beat. It is the same for everyone and does not change from game to game.

1. 1Rohit SharmaOPN
2. 2Abhishek SharmaOPN
3. 3Suryakumar YadavBAT
4. 4Virat KohliBAT
5. 5Glenn MaxwellBAT
6. 6Jos ButtlerWK
7. 7Rashid KhanSPIN
8. 8Wanindu HasarangaSPIN
9. 9Jasprit BumrahPACE
10. 10Lasith MalingaPACE
11. 11Umar GulPACE

Read more about T20I cricket

• What is a good strike rate?: real T20I benchmarks, by position and nation, next to ODI and IPL.
• What is a good batting average in T20s?: benchmarks by position.
• What is a good bowling average in T20s?: for pace and spin.
• The all-time IPL XI: the best eleven under real IPL rules.
• What is a good economy rate?: the same for bowlers, pace and spin.

Other ways to play T20I

• The T20I Daily Challenge: the same six spins for everyone that day, one scored attempt, and a streak if you come back tomorrow. New spins at 00:00 UTC.
• Pick any T20I XI: no spins. Choose any eleven, send the link to a friend, and see whose XI wins the series.
• Challenge a friend from the same spins: every result has a share link that lets a friend draft from the exact draws you had.
• The T20I World Cup: draft an XI, then play four group games against nation XIs, a semi-final and the World XI in the final. One slip is allowed in the group.

The Test game · ODI · T20I · IPL