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Ishan Kishan, the Indian wicket-keeper batter, went on a rampage in the fifth T20I against New Zealand at the Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram. He faced 42-ball to score a hundred, his maiden in the shortest format of the game. The southpaw surpassed Suryakumar Yadav’s record for the fastest T20I century against the Kiwis, with the skipper achieving the milestone in 49 balls in 2022.

He is likely to open the innings for India in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 as the team management is not in favour of Sanju Samson, following his five low scores in the New Zealand assignment. The biggest hint came during the rivals’ chase, with Ishan donning the keeping gloves instead of Samson.

Ishan was not a part of the fourth game due to a niggle and came out early after the host nation lost the wicket of Samson. Ishan started slowly but troubled the bowlers after settling in the middle, completing fifty in 28 balls before amassing the next fifty in 14 balls to reach a hundred in 42 deliveries, with the help of ten sixes and six boundaries.

Ishan’s 42-ball hundred vs New Zealand is the fifth fastest T20I hundred for India, with Rohit Sharma (35 balls), Abhishek Sharma (37 balls), Sanju Samson (40 balls) and Tilak Varma (42 balls) ahead of him.

Indian players with fastest T20I hundred 

Player Balls Faced Opponent Venue Year
Rohit Sharma 35 Sri Lanka Indore 2017
Abhishek Sharma 37 England Mumbai 2025
Sanju Samson 40 Bangladesh Hyderabad 2024
Tilak Varma 41 South Africa Johannesburg 2024
Ishan Kishan 42 New Zealand  Thiruvananthapuram 2026
Suryakumar Yadav 45 Sri Lanka Rajkot 2023
KL Rahul 46 West Indies Lauderhill 2016
Abhishek Sharma 46 Zimbabwe Harare 2024
Sanju Samson 47 South Africa Durban 2024
Suryakumar Yadav 48 England Nottingham 2022
Suryakumar Yadav 49 New Zealand Mount Maunganui 2022
Sanju Samson 51 South Africa Johannesburg 2024
Tilak Varma 51 South Africa Centurion 2024

This article first appeared on Crictoday and was syndicated with permission.

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