3 Indian cricketers with the longest T20I career spans

India made their T20I debut back in 2006, when the women’s team played its first-ever game of the shortest format in August against England. Later, the same year, the men’s team played its first T20I game against South Africa in December 2006.

While T20Is are considered a game of youngsters, where the seniors are phased out from time to time, a few veterans managed to stay in the team for a long time, proving their worth time and again. Here are three Indian players with the longest careers in T20Is:

3. Ravindra Jadeja (15 years, 140 days)

Ravindra Jadeja made his debut in 2009 against Sri Lanka and went on to play 74 matches in the format. He scored 515 runs in T20Is at an average of 21.45 and also picked 54 wickets at an average of 29.85 and an economy of 7.13. Jadeja played his last T20I on June 29, 2024, ending a career that spanned 15 years and 140 days.

2. Rohit Sharma (16 years, 284 days)

Rohit Sharma made his debut in 2007 against England, during the T20 World Cup 2007 and went on to score a half-century in his very first outing as a batter against South Africa. In his career, Rohit played 159 T20Is, scoring 4231 runs at an average of 32.05 and a strike rate of 140.89, hitting five centuries and 32 fifties. He even captained India to the T20 World Cup 2024 triumph and retired from the format on June 29, 2024. Rohit’s T20I career spanned 16 years and 284 days.

1. Harmanpreet Kaur (17 years, 10 days)

Harmanpreet Kaur made her T20I debut in 2009 against England during the T20 World Cup and has etched her name in the history books, becoming the first player with 200 T20I appearances in international cricket. Harmanpreet has scored the third most runs in women’s T20Is with 4147 runs to her name from 179 innings at an average of 30.05 and a strike rate of 110.24. She has a career spanning 17 years and ten days, the longest among Indians so far.