World No. 1 T20I batter Abhishek Sharma opened the innings for the Indian team in the fifth T20I against South Africa on Friday (December 19) and scored 34 runs from 21 balls. During his stay at the crease in Ahmedabad, the 25-year-old left-handed batter hammered six fours and one six and added 63 runs in 5.4 overs with Sanju Samson. Abhishek was caught behind by Quinton de Kock off Corbin Bosch’s bowling in the last over of the powerplay.
By getting out for 34 runs in his last T20 match of 2025, Abhishek failed to break Virat Kohli’s record.
Had Abhishek scored at least 47 runs in the ongoing match, he would have broken Kohli’s record of scoring the most T20 runs in a calendar year by an Indian batter, but he fell short by 13 runs.
In 2016, Kohli
played 31 T20 matches for two teams – India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru – and amassed a total of 1614 runs, whereas Abhishek will finish 2025 with 1602 runs in 41 matches for three teams – India, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab.
In 2016, Kohli scored 973 runs in 16 IPL matches for Royal Challengers Bengaluru and 641 runs in 15 T20I matches for India. And Abhishek will finish 2025 with 439 runs in 14 IPL matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad, 859 runs in 21 T20Is for India and 304 runs in six T20 matches for his domestic side, Punjab.
Virat Kohli in T20s (in 2016)
| TEAM | MATCHES | INNINGS | RUNS | BEST | AVERAGE | S/R | 100/50 | 4/6s |
| Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 16 | 16 | 973 | 113 | 81.08 | 152.03 | 4/7 | 83/38 |
| India | 15 | 13 | 641 | 90* | 106.83 | 140.26 | 0/7 | 70/9 |
| Total | 31 | 29 | 1614 | 113 | 89.44 | 4/14 | 153/47 |
Abhishek Sharma in T20s (in 2025)
| TEAM | MATCHES | INNINGS | RUNS | BEST | AVERAGE | S/R | 100/50 | 4/6s |
| Sunrisers Hyderabad | 14 | 13 | 439 | 141 | 33.76 | 193.39 | 1/2 | 46/28 |
| India | 21 | 21 | 859 | 135 | 42.95 | 193.46 | 1/5 | 85/54 |
| Punjab | 6 | 6 | 304 | 148 | 50.66 | 249.18 | 1/2 | 27/26 |
| Total | 41 | 40 | 1602 | 148 | 41.07 | 3/9 | 158/108 |
The overall record of scoring the most runs in T20s in a calendar year is in the name of former West Indies batter Nicholas Pooran. In 2024, Pooran played 76 T20 matches for eight teams – Durban’s Super Giants, Lucknow Super Giants, MI Emirates, MI New York, Northern Superchargers (Men), Rangpur Riders, Trinbago Knight Riders, and West Indies – and scored 2331 runs.
He was the second batter in the world after Mohammad Rizwan to score 2000 T20 runs in a calendar year. In 2021, Rizwan played 48 T20 matches for three teams – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Multan Sultans, and Pakistan – and scored 2036 runs.
