When T20I cricket started, many fans were of the opinion that the batters may find it difficult to score a half-century in this format of the game. The reason behind it was that each team got only a maximum of 120 deliveries in the innings. Hence, it was initially believed that anything over 30 would be as good as a fifty in T20Is.
The batters have proven those fans wrong though as the cricketers not only managed to cross the 50-run mark, but some of them even smashed centuries and scores of more than 150 in T20 matches. Fearless batting and innovative stroke-play has helped the cricketers achieve enormous success in the batting department.
Still, there have been some extraordinarily talented players who needed more than 40 innings to register their maiden T20I fifty. Two of those players are from India. In this listicle now, we will look at the two Indian players who slammed their first T20I half-century after batting in more than 40 innings.
(Stats Credit: Shebas)
1. MS Dhoni smacked his 1st T20I half-century in 66 innings
Former Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni is surprisingly at the top of the list for the most innings taken by an Indian to record a T20I fifty. The Ranchi-born wicket-keeper batter needed 66 innings. Fans should note that Dhoni generally batted at number five or below in the T20I format, which is why he either did not get to face too many deliveries or did not get to bat at all in some matches.
2. Hardik Pandya
Current Indian cricket team captain for the series against Sri Lanka, Hardik Pandya also needed more than 40 innings to score a fifty in the shortest format of the game.
Pandya achieved the feat in his 43rd innings. However, just like MS Dhoni, Pandya used to bat down the order, but he bats in the Top 4 now.
