Ishan Kishan breaks Kohli's record for most T20 runs by an Indian in a calendar year

Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan has set the record for the most runs by an Indian in T20 cricket in a calendar year, breaking Virat Kohli's 10-year-old mark.

The milestone came in the first match of the five-match T20 series against West Indies. India won the game at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow with eight wickets in hand and lead the series 1-0.

India captain Shreyas Iyer hit a fine century in the match, remaining unbeaten on 102 and taking the team to victory. At the other end, Kishan played an unbeaten innings of 37 off 27 balls, and it was this knock that took him to the milestone.

Kishan, 28, has been in excellent form for some time, and consistent, effective batting has carried him past this landmark. The record previously belonged to Kohli, who scored 1,614 runs in 29 innings across 31 T20 matches in 2016, with four centuries and 14 half-centuries.

Kishan has now gone past that figure in 2026. This year he has scored 1,644 runs in 45 innings across 45 T20 matches, including 13 half-centuries and one century. Of these, 1,042 runs came in T20 internationals. He also scored 602 runs in 15 matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in IPL 2026, at an average of 40.13.

The list of the most T20 runs by an Indian in a year is: Ishan Kishan 1,644 (2026), Virat Kohli 1,614 (2016), Abhishek Sharma 1,602 (2025), Suryakumar Yadav 1,503 (2022) and Abhishek Sharma 1,395 (2026).

Having overtaken Kohli, Kishan will now have another record in sight. The record for the most runs by an Indian in T20 internationals in a calendar year currently belongs to Suryakumar Yadav, who scored 1,164 in 2022. By current figures Kishan is close, needing only 123 more runs to break it. In the remaining matches of the series against West Indies, he will have the chance to set another big record.