Ishan Kishan hits 61 in Hamilton, sets India's record for most T20I runs in a calendar year

The fifth T20 between India and New Zealand is being played at Seddon Park in Hamilton. Ishan Kishan batted superbly in the match, scoring 61 off 32 balls, and set a major record during the innings.

On reaching 6 runs in the fifth T20, Kishan went past Suryakumar Yadav. He now holds the record for the most runs by an Indian in T20 internationals in a calendar year. The record was previously held by Suryakumar, who scored 1,164 runs in 32 T20s played in 2022.

Kishan has so far scored 1,220 runs in 37 T20s this year, 2026. He also completed 2,000 runs in T20 cricket. He is now third on the list of Indian batters to reach 2,000 runs in the fewest balls. Kishan took 1,345 balls to reach the mark.

The wicketkeeper-batter is behind Abhishek Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav on this list. Suryakumar reached the figure in 1,164 balls, while Abhishek completed his 2,000 T20 runs in 1,024 balls.

India lost the toss and had to bat first. The start was poor. Abhishek was out for just one run and Sanju Samson made only 4, leaving India on 19 for 2. Kishan then steadied the innings with captain Shreyas Iyer. The two added 93 runs for the third wicket in only 43 balls.

Kishan reached his half-century in just 28 balls. He hit 5 fours and 5 sixes in his innings. At the other end, Iyer scored 50 off 23 balls, with 3 fours and 4 sixes.

India made two changes to the team for this match. Varun Chakravarthy and Bhuvneshwar Kumar came into the playing XI, while Mayank Yadav and Axar Patel were left out. India's batters appeared to struggle at first against the pace bowling of Adam Milne, but the innings from Kishan and Iyer helped India set New Zealand a target of 192.