Ishan Kishan breaks Suryakumar's record for most T20I runs by Indian in a year

Hamilton: India wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan delivered a record-breaking performance in the fifth T20I against New Zealand on Sunday, becoming the country's highest run-scorer in the shortest format in a calendar year.

The left-hander struck 61 off 32 deliveries at Seddon Park, taking his tally for 2026 to 1,220 runs from 37 innings and surpassing the previous Indian record of 1,164 runs set by Suryakumar Yadav in 2022.

Kishan had entered the final match needing just six runs to overtake Suryakumar's mark. His latest achievement also places him second among batters from full-member nations for the most T20I runs in a calendar year. Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan leads that category with 1,326 runs, while Austria's Karanbir Singh tops the overall list with 1,488.

The 27-year-old also crossed the 2,000-run milestone in T20 internationals during his innings, becoming the third-fastest Indian to reach the mark in terms of balls faced. He needed 1,345 deliveries, behind Abhishek Sharma (1,024) and Suryakumar (1,164).

Kishan's innings marked a strong comeback after a difficult start to the series. He had managed scores of one and zero in his two previous appearances and missed the intervening matches due to a right adductor strain.

With IANS inputs