India’s stand-in opener in T20I cricket, Ishan Kishan has created an Indian record for wicketkeeper-batter in T20I cricket with his maiden fifty in the format. Kishan scored 89 runs at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow.
The 23-year-old batter went past Rishabh Pant’s unbeaten score of 65 against West Indies in August 2019. The southpaw scored 89 runs from 56 deliveries at a strike rate of 158.92 including 10 fours and three sixes.
Kishan got out in the 17th over of India’s first innings. His knock helped hosts post 199/2. He got India off to a flier and shared a 111-run opening partnership with Rohit Sharma, who scored a 32-ball 44. Rohit also got a record to his name. The skipper became the leading run-scorer in T20I cricket surpassing teammate Virat Kohli and Martin Guptill.
Kishan returned to form after a string of ordinary performances. Opening the innings in the absence of KL Rahul, he scored 71 runs from three innings against West Indies in the recently concluded three-T20I series. Even in his cameos, he maintained a disappointing strike rate.
Kishan also missed out on becoming sixth wicketkeeper-batter to hit a century in T20I cricket. It is the second highest score by an Indian wicketkeeper-batter against Sri Lanka. In addition, it is the joint third-highest T20I score by an Indian batter against Sri Lanka.
England’s Jos Buttler holds the record with an unbeaten 101 against Sri Lanka in last year’s T20 World Cup 2021. Overall, former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum holds the record for highest score by a wicketkeeper-batter in T20Is with 123-run knock against Bangladesh in September 2012.
Recently, Kishan was brought back by Mumbai Indians (MI) for a whopping Rs 15.25 crore after an intense bidding war with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Gujarat Titans (GT).
