Hamilton, November 1: India wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan achieved two significant milestones during the fifth and final T20 International against New Zealand on Sunday. His impressive 61 off 32 balls helped him complete 2,000 runs in T20I cricket and break the record for the most T20I runs by an Indian in a calendar year.
Kishan reached the 2,000-run landmark in his 69th T20I innings, becoming the fifth-fastest Indian batter to achieve the feat in terms of innings. Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav reached the milestone in 56 innings each, KL Rahul in 58 and Abhishek Sharma in 64. Kishan moved ahead of Rohit Sharma, who took 77 innings to score 2,000 T20I runs.
In terms of deliveries faced, Kishan became the third-fastest Indian to reach the milestone, completing it in 1,345 balls. Abhishek Sharma leads the list with 1,024 deliveries, followed by Suryakumar Yadav with 1,164.
Kishan also broke Suryakumar Yadav’s record for the most T20I runs scored by an Indian in a calendar year. With 1,220 runs from 37 innings in 2026, he surpassed Suryakumar’s previous record of 1,164 runs, set in 2022.
Kishan had endured a difficult start to the series against New Zealand, scoring one and zero in the first and fourth T20Is he featured in. He missed the second and third matches due to a low-grade right adductor strain.
His return to form came at a crucial stage as he scored a blistering half-century in the final match, helping India recover after early setbacks.
India finished their innings at 191 for eight in the fifth T20I, with Kishan and Shreyas Iyer both scoring half-centuries.
