Ishan Kishan has the opportunity to set several significant records during the five-match T20I series against New Zealand. This Indian wicketkeeper-batsman is only 46 runs away from reaching the 2000-run mark in T20 International format. Furthermore, he potentially could surpass records set by Suryakumar Yadav and Mohammad Rizwan of Pakistan.
The five-match T20I series between India and New Zealand kicks off on Thursday, October 22, with the first match scheduled in Christchurch. Kishan is in excellent form this year and has made an impression playing at number three.
During the T20I series, the captains will meet to present the trophy in Christchurch, promising an exciting confrontation between the two teams.
Currently, Ishan Kishan has scored 1954 runs in 66 T20 Internationals, maintaining an average of 31.51 and a strike rate of 148.81. This statistic includes one century and 13 half-centuries. His best score was 103 runs. In the current year's T20 Internationals, Kishan has played 34 matches, scoring 1158 runs at an average of 37.35 and a strike rate of 172.06, including one century and seven half-centuries. By adding just seven more runs, he can surpass Suryakumar Yadav, who scored 1164 runs in 2022, setting the record for the highest number of T20I runs in a calendar year for an Indian batsman.
Another goal for Ishan Kishan is the record held by Mohammad Rizwan of Pakistan. Rizwan scored 1326 T20I runs in 29 matches in 2021, recording one century and 12 half-centuries. To set the record for the most T20I runs in a calendar year among batsmen playing in Test nations, Kishan needs 139 more runs.
Kishan has shown impressive play across all T20 formats this year. He has scored 1760 runs in 49 matches played in 49 innings, with an average of 38.26 and a strike rate above 175, including one century and 13 half-centuries. After the five T20I matches against New Zealand, a three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka is scheduled for December. Kishan needs to score another 240 runs this calendar year to reach the 2000 T20 run mark. Previously, this milestone was achieved by Nicholas Pooran of West Indies (2331 runs) and Mohammad Rizwan (2036 runs in 2024), and Kishan could become the first Indian player to achieve this result.
The T20I squad for India against New Zealand includes Shreyas Iyer (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Vaibhav Suryawanshi, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Namana Dira, Prince Yadav, Minka Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakravarthy, and Kuldeep Yadav.