Shreyas Iyer is closing in on a record held by Rohit Sharma and will have a chance to become India’s highest run-scorer as T20I captain in a calendar year when the team faces New Zealand in the second match of the five-match series on Saturday (October 24) at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.Iyer, who took over as India’s T20I captain from Suryakumar Yadav in June, has scored 632 runs in 22 matches as skipper this year. He needs 25 runs in Saturday’s match to go past Rohit’s tally of 656 runs, which the former India captain scored in 29 T20Is in 2022.Rohit led India to the T20 World Cup title in 2024. However, the record for the most runs by a captain in T20Is in a calendar year belongs to Pakistan’s Babar Azam, who scored 939 runs in 29 matches as skipper in 2021. Japan’s Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming is second on the list, having scored 860 runs in 20 T20Is as captain in 2024.Iyer batted at No. 4 in India’s series opener against New Zealand on Thursday and scored 42 off 28 balls during the chase of 226 runs. India won the match by four wickets.The Punjab Kings captain in the IPL also has a chance to break another record in T20 cricket this year. Iyer has scored 1,130 runs as captain across T20 matches in 2026. He needs 96 runs in Saturday’s match to go past Babar’s tally of 1,225 runs, which the Pakistan batter scored in 35 matches as captain in 2021.Ishan Kishan ruled out of second T20I against New ZealandIndia wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan has been ruled out of Saturday’s second T20I against New Zealand in Christchurch after suffering a right adductor strain during the series opener.Kishan’s absence could open the door for 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to make his debut for the senior Indian team.The youngster last played for India during the Asian Games in Japan, where he scored 15 in the semifinal against Sri Lanka and 38 in the final against Pakistan. India went on to win its second consecutive gold medal in the event.
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