ICC T20 World Cup Stats: Records That May Never Be Broken

The ICC T20 World Cup 2026 will be played between February 07 and March 08, 2026, and will be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka. This is the 10th edition of the competition and just like its successful previous editions, the tournament promises exciting cricketing actions. Defending champions India, playing at their home, will be strong favourites to win yet again, specially with their current form.

The previous nine editions of the ICC T20 World Cup have seen six champions. India, England and West Indies won twice, while the others who won the competition once are Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia. Throughout the nine editions, teams battled hard to win and, in their attempt, they created several records. Some of the records that were registered due to once-in-a-lifetime moments from great cricketers are hard to break even today.

There are several records in the T20 World Cup, which have set such benchmarks, that they are very difficult to shatter. Even in the changed times and conditions of the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026.

Yuvraj Singh's 12-Ball Half-Century

Over the years, batting in T20s changed. The conditions became flatter, the batters found ways to learn power-hitting, their intent improved and so did their strength of tonking the ball, yet, a record, that is yet to be broken is Yuvraj Singh's 12-ball half-century. While Nepal's Dipendra Singh Airee scored a half-century in just 9-balls against Mongolia, it was not in a major cricket competition. Abhishek Sharma has scored a 14-ball half-century recently against New Zealand, but even for him, Yuvraj's record is a mountain to climb in the upcoming T20 World Cup.

Lockie Ferguson's Economy Rate

One record that cannot be bettered and can only be matched is Lockie Ferguson's economy rate of 0.00 from the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. In the Papua New Guinea vs New Zealand group stage encounter, Ferguson bowled 4 overs, 4 maidens, and took 3 wickets. To beat it, a bowler would have to bowl 5 overs for 0 runs, but a bowler’s quota in T20s is capped at 4. One can only beat him in terms of wickets taken. But the economy rate is impossible to beat.

Sri Lanka's Winning Margin Against Kenya

The last two years in T20s have seen a flurry of mammoth scores and even 300 getting breached. The scores of 250s and 260s are now common with aggressive batters packed in sides and flatter batting pitches. But it was something very uncommon in early stages of T20s, even when playing against a much weaker opposition. Despite that, Sri Lanka posted a massive total of 260/6 against Kenya and bowled them out for 88 in 2007.

They secured a massive 172 run-victory. Even with the prospect of a team scoring 300 in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026 staying open, getting a victory by that big of a margin will be a far-fetched task.

Ajantha Mendis’ Figures Against Zimbabwe

Ajanth Mendis, known for his mystery spin and carrom ball, picked up six wickets for just eight runs against Zimbabwe in 2012. Out of his 24 balls, two entire overs were maidens. He conceded only 8 runs and had an economy of 2.00. Just like the Lockie Ferguson's spell, this is a record that is extremely difficult to break and with batting conditions getting better with every passing moment, bowlers face constant threat of being dismantled. That is why, Mendis' record looks unlikely to broken anytime soon.

Virat Kohli's Decade-Long Average

While Virat Kohli's power-game in T20s, along with his ability to take risks have remained a topic of discussion, it cannot be denied that he is the most consistent batter the ICC T20 World Cup has ever seen. Kohli scored 319 runs at an average of 106.33 in the ICC T20 World Cup 2014. Since then, for the next ten years, he has kept an average of 58.72 over 35 matches. The level of consistency is exceptional and with teams eyeing more aggressive style of play with higher risks, it is unlikely that any batter will be able to maintain such an high average in the T20 World Cups over such a long period.