Which Is the Strongest Team of T20 Blast 2023 and Why?

The most important aspect of the competition is the quality of cricket. The quality is defined by the strengths of the participating teams. The stronger the teams, the fiercer the matches, and the better the tournament. T20 Blast is one of the best cricket leagues in the world right now. Here, we will do an in-depth analysis of its 3 strongest teams for the 2023 edition.

So, let’s get right into this article.

3 Strongest Teams In T20 Blast 2023

Let’s discuss about the 3 strongest T20 Blast teams on paper:

1. Surrey

Surrey will be the one of the T20 Blast 2023 team to beat in this year’s Blast competition. Let’s analyse their team and its strengths:

Ideal Starting XI

Here’s the best starting XI for Surrey in T20 Blast 2023:

1. Will Jacks
2. Jason Roy
3. Laurie Evans
4. Jordan Clark
5. Kieron Pollard
6. Sam Curran
7. Tom Curran
8. Sunil Narine
9. Chris Jordan
10. Jamie Overton
11. Reece Topley

Key Strengths

Surrey has a destructive top order, and it’s one of their prime strengths. Jason Roy is the experienced campaigner in the top order. His T20 career has brought more than 8000 T20 runs at an impressive strike rate of 142. With him, Will Jacks is another important figure in the batting lineup. His progress as a T20 batter has been truly amazing. His 2802 runs in the format have come at a stupendous strike rate of 157.94. These two will form the perfect opening combo for Surrey. The experienced Laurie Evans will follow these two in the batting order. He has scored over 5000 runs in the format at a strike rate of 135.31.

Kieron Pollard will be the key in the middle order. He has played the role of a finisher for most of his career. But his ability to dominate spin makes him an ideal choice for this role. The veteran has 12,175 T20 runs at a strike rate of 150.51. These numbers suggest he will be the backbone of this side’s batting.

The Curran brothers will be the finishers in this batting order. Sam Curran has 2023 T20 runs to his name at a strike rate of 132.65. Tom Curran has scored 1316 runs while striking at 138.81. Sunil Narine and Chris Jordan make this batting even more formidable. Their T20 strike rates are 146. Even Jamie Overton strikes at 173.23 in T20 cricket. With such depth in the batting lineup, Surrey can make a meal of targets even over 200.

Like batting, they also have plenty of depth in their bowling. They may play as many as 5 fast bowling options in their playing XI. In Reece Topley and Sam Curran, they have two excellent new ball bowlers. Topley has grabbed 179 T20 wickets while going at 8.19 runs per over. Sam has been outstanding for the last one and a half years. He has 193 wickets in the format at an economy rate of 8.55.

Jamie Overton is more than handy in the middle phase, while Chris Jordan and Tom Curran are excellent at the death. Talking about spin, Sunil Narine is there with all his experience. His 485 T20 wickets have come at the expense of 6.05 runs an over. He will be supported by Will Jacks, who has taken 26 wickets in the format at the economy rate of 7.25.

2. Lancashire

Considering the squad, Lancashire will be a tough T20 Blast 2023 team to get over. Let’s take a deeper look into their camp:

Ideal Starting XI

Underlying is the ideal playing XI for Lancashire in this year’s Blast competition:

1. Jos Butler
2. Phil Salt
3. Daryl Mitchell
4. Keaton Jennings
5. Liam Livingstone
6. Tim David
7. Colin de Grandhomme
8. Richard Gleeson
9. Luke Wood
10. Matt Parkinson
11. Saqib Mahmood

Key Strengths

Lancashire’s batting is probably the most explosive one in this year’s Natwest Blast. Jos Butler has been performing exceptionally well since his promotion as an opener. He has amassed 9799 T20 runs in his career at a brilliant strike rate of 144.69. Phil Salt is another explosive opener available in this squad. He strikes at 150.65 for his 4286 T20 runs. In the form of Daryl Mitchell, they have a calming figure in their lineup. His recent form has been quite spectacular. Mitchell has accumulated 3403 T20 runs at an SR of 132.77.

Liam Livingstone and Tim David are the two finishers in the team. Both are known for their power-hitting ability. Livingstone has piled up over 5000 runs in the format. His strike rate in the format is 146.64. Meanwhile, Tim David is now the new sensation in T20 cricket. He has dominated in almost every T20 league as a finisher. He has made 3639 runs in the shortest format of the game. His astonishing strike rate of 162.89 tells about his ability as a finisher.

Lancashire also has versatile bowling options. Saqib Mahmood will lead the pace attack. He has gone for 8.84 runs per over in his T20 career and picked 74 wickets. The experienced Richard Gleeson is also a part of this bowling lineup. He has bagged 86 T20 wickets at an economy rate of 8.19. Colin de Grandhomme and Daryl Mitchell will provide two more seam bowling options. Matt Parkinson will be Lancashire’s lead spin bowler. The leg-spinner has taken 137 wickets at a brilliant economy rate of 7.65. Liam Livingstone and Tim David are the other two spin bowling options.

3. Somerset

Somerset is a great T20 side with several match winners. Let’s discuss them in more detail:

Ideal Starting XI

Let’s take a look at Somerset’s ideal starting XI:

1. Will Smeed
2. Tom Banton
3. James Rew
4. Tom Abell
5. Tom Lammonby
6. George Bartlett
7. Lewis Gregory
8. Roelof van der Merwe
9. Ben Green
10. Matt Henry
11. Peter Siddle

Key Strengths

Somerset was quite brilliant in last year’s Vitality Blast. They will look to get even better with a strong squad this time. With Tom Banton and Will Smeed as their opening pair, they can certainly dream of the title this year. Smeed’s strike rate of 145.57 in T20s is highly impressive. He has 1546 runs in this form of the game, while Banton has more than 2000 T20 runs. Banton strikes at 142.5 in overall T20 cricket.

Tom Abell will be the main man in Somerset’s middle order. He is a high-class batsman who has picked 1771 T20 runs at an SR of 142.36. Tom Lammonby was also brilliant in the last season. He strikes at 148.08 in this format and has scored 773 runs till now. His ability to thrive in different conditions made him stand out last year. Lewis Gregory will play the finisher’s role for Somerset. He is an experienced campaigner and has 2187 T20 runs at a strike rate of 138.41.

Roelof van der Merwe‘s presence in the lower order adds depth to this batting order. He will also be the top spinner for Somerset. The pace battery has loads of experience in the form of Matt Henry and Peter Siddle. The Aussie has 131 T20 wickets while conceding only 7.69 runs per over. Whereas Henry has picked 108 wickets while going at 8.6 runs an over. Ben Green and Lewis Gregory add to the seam bowling options.