Ishan Kishan (PTI Photo)
NEW DELHI: Ishan Kishan has three major batting milestones in sight as India prepare for the five-match T20I series against New Zealand, starting in Christchurch on Thursday. The wicketkeeper-batter is closing in on the record for most T20I runs by an Indian in a calendar year, the overall record for a batter from a Test-playing nation and the landmark of 2,000 runs in T20 cricket in a single year.Kishan, who has enjoyed a breakthrough year in India's T20I setup, needs just seven runs to surpass Suryakumar Yadav's Indian record of 1,164 T20I runs in a calendar year, achieved in 2022.The left-hander has scored 1,158 runs in 34 T20I innings this year at an average of 37.35 and a strike rate of 172.06, including a century and seven half-centuries.
Ishan Kishan chasing T20I records
Kishan is also closing in on the calendar-year record for most T20I runs by a batter from a Test-playing nation.
Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan holds the mark with 1,326 runs in 2021, leaving Kishan 139 runs short of the milestone.The India batter is also just 46 runs away from becoming the seventh Indian to complete 2,000 runs in T20Is. In 66 matches, he has scored 1,954 runs at an average of 31.51 and a strike rate of 148.81, with one century and 13 half-centuries.
Can Kishan become India's first 2,000-run batter in a year?
Beyond international cricket, Kishan has another significant milestone within reach.
He has scored 1,760 runs in 49 T20 matches this year at an average of 38.26 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 calendar year. West Indies' Nicholas Pooran and Rizwan are the only batters to have crossed that mark, with Pooran scoring 2,331 runs in 2024 and Rizwan accumulating 2,036 in 2021.With five T20Is against New Zealand followed by a three-match series against Sri Lanka in December, Kishan has opportunities to rewrite the record books before the year ends.