Bangladeshi left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman has earned a spot in Wisden's Men's T20 Team of the Year for 2025. His stellar performances across international and franchise cricket over the past year helped them earned it.
The cricket-focused website's editorial team compiled the XI based on performances in all recognized T20 matches throughout the calendar year, a period packed with international fixtures and franchise leagues leading up to the 2026 World Cup.
Read more: Snubbed by IPL, Mustafizur Rahman snapped up by PSL
Wisden highlighted Mustafizur's exceptional discipline, noting that among bowlers who delivered at least 150 overs in 2025, no other bowler came close to his bowling average of 18.03.
The publication praised him as the most economical pacer of the year, consistently restricting runs while taking regular wickets.
In 2025, Mustafizur claimed 59 wickets in 43 innings with an impressive economy rate of 6.78 and a strike rate of 15.9. He bowled a total of 156.5 overs during the period, with his best figures being 3 for 11. In terms of strike rate, only Caribbean all-rounder Jason Holder (15.4) performed better than Mustafizur among comparable bowlers.
The Team of the Year is balanced with two specialist spinners, two pacers, and two pace-bowling all-rounders.
Joining Mustafizur in the pace attack is New Zealand’s Jacob Duffy, while Jason Holder and England’s Sam Curran occupy the all-rounder slots. The spin department features the mystery duo of Sunil Narine and India’s Varun Chakravarthy.
The batting lineup is headlined by India’s Abhishek Sharma, who struck three centuries and maintained a staggering strike rate of 202.01, becoming the first cricketer to score over 1,000 runs in a calendar year at a rate of two runs per ball.
Read more: “Days of slavery are over”: Bangladesh’s sports adviser reacts strongly to Mustafizur’s IPL exit
He is partnered by England’s Phil Salt, who scored 1,575 runs at a strike rate of 153.35. The middle order includes hard-hitters Dewald Brevis, Donovan Ferreira, and Tim David.