Ishan Kishan continued his impressive run in T20Is with another match-winning innings for India in the ongoing series against Zimbabwe. After making 35 runs in the opening game on July 23, the left-handed wicketkeeper-batter played a superb knock of 81 from just 44 balls in the second T20I on Saturday (July 25), helping Shreyas Iyer's side post a strong total.
With this innings, Ishan's run tally in T20Is for 2026 has climbed to 783. That takes him to third place among Indian batters with the most T20I runs in a single calendar year.
Players with most runs in a calendar year
| PLAYER | MATCHES | RUNS | BEST SCORE | AVERAGE | STRIKE RATE | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s | YEAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suryakumar Yadav | 31 | 1164 | 117 | 46.56 | 187.43 | 2 | 9 | 106 | 68 | 2022 |
| Abhishek Sharma | 21 | 859 | 135 | 42.95 | 193.46 | 1 | 5 | 85 | 54 | 2025 |
| Ishan Kishan | 22 | 783 | 103 | 35.59 | 180.83 | 1 | 6 | 82 | 41 | 2026 |
| Virat Kohli | 20 | 781 | 122* | 55.78 | 138.23 | 1 | 8 | 66 | 26 | 2022 |
| Suryakumar Yadav | 18 | 733 | 112* | 48.86 | 155.95 | 2 | 5 | 61 | 43 | 2023 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | 18 | 689 | 92 | 40.52 | 147.22 | 0 | 6 | 70 | 25 | 2018 |
| Rohit Sharma | 29 | 656 | 72 | 24.29 | 134.42 | 0 | 3 | 64 | 32 | 2022 |
| Virat Kohli | 15 | 641 | 90* | 106.83 | 140.26 | 0 | 7 | 70 | 9 | 2016 |
| Hardik Pandya | 27 | 607 | 71* | 33.72 | 145.91 | 0 | 3 | 47 | 30 | 2022 |
| Rohit Sharma | 19 | 590 | 111* | 36.87 | 147.5 | 2 | 3 | 51 | 31 | 2018 |
The 27-year-old has gone past Virat Kohli, who scored 781 runs in 20 T20Is during 2022. Ishan has also been one of India's standout performers this year, having finished as the team's second-highest run-scorer at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026.
The record for the most T20I runs by an Indian in a calendar year still belongs to former captain Suryakumar Yadav. He scored a remarkable 1,164 runs in 31 matches in 2022. Abhishek Sharma occupies the second spot after piling up 859 runs in 21 T20Is during 2025.
The overall world record is held by Austria's Karanbir Singh, who scored 1,488 runs in 32 T20Is in 2025.
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Ishan looked in complete control during his innings against Zimbabwe. He struck nine fours and two sixes while keeping the scoreboard moving at a brisk pace. He first shared a 66-run stand for the third wicket with captain Shreyas Iyer, who made 25 off 20 balls. He then built a game-changing 94-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Tilak Varma, who remained unbeaten on 60 from just 29 deliveries.
A century looked well within reach, but Ishan's innings came to an end in the 18th over. He was dismissed by Newman Nyamhuri off the very first ball of the over, falling 19 runs short of what would have been a memorable hundred.