Ishan Kishan is close to achieving three major batting milestones as India prepare for their five-match T20I series against New Zealand, starting in Christchurch on Thursday. The Indian wicketkeeper-batter has enjoyed an impressive year and will have several opportunities to make history before the year ends. Kishan is chasing the record for the most T20I runs by an Indian in a calendar year, the record for the most T20I runs in a year by a batter from a Test-playing nation, and the milestone of scoring 2,000 runs in T20 cricket in a single calendar year.
Kishan has scored 1,158 runs in 34 T20I innings this year at an average of 37.35 and a strike rate of 172.06. His performances include one century and seven half-centuries.The left-handed batter needs just seven more runs to break Suryakumar Yadav’s Indian record of 1,164 T20I runs in a calendar year, set in 2022. Kishan is also chasing the overall calendar-year record for the most T20I runs by a batter from a Test-playing nation. Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan holds the record with 1,326 runs in 2021. Kishan is currently 139 runs short of that mark.
Another major milestone is within reach in T20I cricket. Kishan has scored 1,954 runs in 66 matches at an average of 31.51 and a strike rate of 148.81, including one century and 13 half-centuries. He needs just 46 more runs to become the seventh Indian batter to reach 2,000 T20I runs. Apart from his international performances, Kishan is also chasing a remarkable record in overall T20 cricket. He has scored 1,760 runs in 49 T20 matches this year at an average of 38.36 and a strike rate above 175. He needs another 240 runs to become the first Indian batter to score 2,000 runs in T20 cricket in a single calendar year. West Indies batter Nicholas Pooran holds the record for the most T20 runs in a calendar year, scoring 2,331 runs in 2024, while Rizwan scored 2,036 runs in 2021.
With five T20Is against New Zealand followed by a three-match series against Sri Lanka in December, Kishan will have several opportunities to reach these milestones. The upcoming matches could prove important for the Indian batter as he looks to continue his strong form and add his name to the record books.