Jharkhand captain Ishan Kishan went all guns blazing on the opening day of Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26, his first appearance since getting recalled in the T20I squad for T20 World Cup 2026. Kishan tonked Karnataka bowlers for as many as 14 sixes his carnage-filled 39-ball stay at the crease to score 125 runs. The wicketkeeper-batter reached his century from just 33 balls, the second-fastest by an Indian in List A cricket and in Vijay Hazare Trophy history.
Kishan missed out on sharing or breaking the record for fastest List A century by an Indian set by Bihar skipper Sakibul Gani minutes before. At Kishan’s homeground, Gani scored a 32-ball century against Arunachal Pradesh in plate group clash. With Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s 84-ball 190 and Ayush Loharuka’s ton, Bihar posted 574/6, the highest List A score ever.
Kishan who has a double century in ODIs as opener, walked out to bat at no.6 When he arrived at the crease, Jharkhand had set a good platform as they were 239/4 after 38 overs.
Kishan torments Karnataka bowlers
Kishan did not spare anyone and raced to his half-century from just 20 balls. He took it up a notch and reached his century from 33 balls. The southpaw did not spare anyone but he was most destructive against Vijaykumar Vyshak who plays for Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He scored 40 runs from 11 bals bowled by Vyshak, featuring three sixes. He hit Dhruv Prabhakar, Vidyadhar Patil and Abhilash Shetty for three sixes as well. With main bowlers going for plenty, Karun Nair rolled his arm as well. Kishan hit him for two sixes and a four from just four deliveries.
On the last ball of the penultimate over, Kishan was dismissed by Prabhakar.
By then, Jharkhand had already crossed the 400-run mark. They ended up posting 412/9 on the board. Earlier, Virat Singh and Kumar Kushagra scored fifties as well. Virat scored 88 runs from 68 balls, including eight fours and four sixes. Kushagra's 47-ball 63 was laced with five sixes and three fours.
Kishan in red-hot form
This is Kishan’s second consecutive century. He scored a century in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2025 final against Haryana as well. He led them to their maiden SMAT title. He scored over 500 runs in SMAT 2025, earning a spot in the T20 World Cup 2026 squad, replacing an out-of-form Shubman Gill.