Ishan Kishan sets new record for most T20I runs by an Indian in a year

Ishan Kishan created history on Sunday (Nov 1) by becoming the Indian batter with the most T20I runs in a calendar year. The left-handed wicketkeeper-batter needed just six runs in the fifth T20I against New Zealand at Seddon Park to break Suryakumar Yadav’s record and achieved the milestone by hitting a six off the fourth ball of his innings after Kiwis captain Mitchell Santner asked India to bat first.

The 28-year-old has surpassed Suryakumar Yadav's previous record of 1,164 T20I runs in 2022, taking his tally to 1,165 runs from 37 matches in 2026.

Abhishek Sharma also had a chance to surpass Suryakumar’s record but failed to make an impact as the world No. 1 T20I batter was dismissed for just one run off two balls in the fifth T20I. Adam Milne sent him back in the second over after Daryl Mitchell caught him while attempting an aerial shot.

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Abhishek has scored 1,153 runs in 39 T20Is in 2026 and holds the record for the fastest T20I century by an Indian batter.

Sanju Samson is third on the list with 810 runs from 30 matches. The Kerala wicketkeeper-batter, who won the Player of the Tournament award at the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, scored just four runs off 10 balls in the fifth T20I before Milne dismissed him in the fourth over.

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Austria’s Karanbir Singh holds the record for most T20I runs in a calendar year with 1,488 runs in 32 matches in 2025, followed by Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan, who scored 1,326 runs in 29 matches in 2021.

Indian batters with most T20I runs in 2026