He is the first South African to play 500 T20s – how do his numbers match up to the others who’ve got to the landmark, and who’s likely to get there next?
Sampath Bandarupalli26-Sep-2024David Miller featured in his 500th T20 match on Wednesday night in Guyana, playing for Barbados Royals against hosts Guyana Amazon Warriors. Miller marked the occasion with an unbeaten 34-ball 71. Who else is in the exclusive 500 club and how does Miller’s numbers match up? Here’s a run through.The first South African in the club
Miller is one among six players with 500-plus T20 appearances and the first from South Africa to get to the landmark. This elite club is dominated by West Indians – Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell – while Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik is the other member.Related
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Miller is also the first specialist batter to feature in 500 T20 matches, with all the others playing (for big chunks of their careers at least, if not all through) as allrounders.16 years for Miller’s 500
Miller needed 16 years and 172 days to complete 500 T20 appearances, having debuted in 2008. He took the second-longest time to 500 T20s after Malik, who needed 17 years and 283 days. Malik is also the oldest to the landmark – he was 41 years and two days old in 2023 when he played his 500th T20.
Miller, on Wednesday, was 35 years and 107 days old and is the second youngest to reach 500 T20s, after Pollard (32y 297d). Narine is the quickest to play 500 T20s in terms of time from debut, having got there in 13 years and 70 days.Pollard’s 10k in 500
Pollard, the first player to 500 T20s, marked the milestone by reaching 10,000 career runs. Two others scored 10000-plus runs in their first 500 T20s – Malik (12,287) and Miller (10,678). Bravo and Narine lead the bowling list with 540 and 537 wickets respectively. Russell wasn’t too far from both marks in his 500th – 8490 runs and 453 wickets.
The globe-trotters from the West Indies
The proportion of T20Is in any player’s T20 career is usually on the lower side, and this is very apparent among the West Indies players. In all 125 of Miller’s 500 T20s have international status, while Malik had played 124 T20Is at the time of his 500th T20.The highest number of T20Is among the four West Indians in their first 500 T20s was 86 by Bravo. Russell and Pollard featured in 78 and 72 respectively, while Narine was part of only 51 – all the rest of their T20s being in franchise leagues around the world.
Who is likely to join the club next?
The next player to 500 T20 appearance should be an Englishman – Ravi Bopara or Alex Hales. Bopara made his debut in this format back in 2003 and is still an active player, but Hales can pip him because of his franchise contracts. Chris Gayle, the leading run-getter in T20s, has played 463 matches but none since 2022 (nor has he officially retired from T20 cricket).Rohit Sharma, India’s most capped T20 player with 448 matches, is no longer a T20I cricketer and could be limited to playing this format in the IPL. Rashid Khan, also on 448, is another frontrunner to join the list in the not-too-distant future.New Zealand’s Suzie Bates is ahead of Rohit and Rashid with 449 matches. She could be the first woman to feature in 500 T20s. Another New Zealander, Sophie Devine, is the only other woman to play 400-plus T20s to date.
