Virat Kohli’s former teammate in the Royal Challengers Bengaluru dugout, Faf du Plessis, has discredited the veteran and picked another RCBian as the greatest ever T20 opener in the world. Kohli was not picked despite his unmatched excellence in the IPL as well as T20 International cricket.
Faf du Plessis, the former South African batting legend, recently opted out of the IPL by taking his name off the mini-auction and instead opted to switch times to the PSL. However, he made it clear that he is not retiring from the IPL and might return to future endeavours.
Du Plessis played the majority of his IPL career for the Chennai Super Kings and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, with batting partnerships alongside Shane Watson, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Virat Kohli. However, when it came to picking the best T20 opener, this is who he picked.
Your daily dose of cricket!
Faf du Plessis excludes himself too early in the race for best-ever T20 opener
Faf was handed the crucial responsibility to pick from an entire set of T20 batters who have opened the innings for them. He started by keeping out his own countryman, Aiden Markram and instead picked Martin Guptill.
He continued with Guptill and then replaced him with himself. He held onto his own position over the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad and KL Rahul and only stepped down when he was placed in comparison to Travis Head.
He soon replaced Travis Head with the former Indian great Virender Sehwag, after some immense dilemma, since both batters are known for their explosive antics. However, Sehwag had the upper hand after having done it consistently over a long career.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli snubbed from the No. 1 T20 opener spot
Picking between the likes of a legendary Indian batter is never easy. Du Plessis was quick to replace former Indian great Virender Sehwag as the best T20 batter with Rohit Sharma, the former Indian skipper.
He picked Rohit over Quinton de Kock, one of the greatest South African batters in the shortest format of the game, and then Jos Buttler eventually got the better of him. However, his biggest dilemma remained between Buttler and Kohli, where he picked the RCB legend.
However, Virat too was snubbed from the race as Faf du Plessis picked former CSK batting partner and veteran all-rounder Shane Watson. Watson was once known as one of the fiercest strikers of the white ball in world cricket.
Faf du Plessis picks Caribbean master as greatest ever T20 opener
However, the Australian all-rounder had the toughest fight against his fellow countryman and his former batting partner for the Aussies. David Warner, the legend, was picked over Shane Watson, considering the left-handed pocket dynamite’s heroics in T20 cricket.
However, the last card almost neutralised the effect of all the selections that were made until now. Du Plessis did not hesitate once and looked as if he was waiting to pick this name as the greatest ever T20 opener. It is none other than the legendary Caribbean master, the big-hitting Chris Gayle, often called the Universe Boss, for the unmatchable records in T20 cricket.
Even if you are a Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, or David Warner fan, one cannot deny that Chris Gayle is the best-picked player as the greatest T20 opener.
As per Faf du Plessis, the best ever T20 opener of all time is ________ 👀 Watch till the end! pic.twitter.com/TPnMP1H4Co
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) February 23, 2026
