Austrian batting sensation Karanbir Singh has etched his name into cricket's record books by surpassing Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan and India's Suryakumar
Yadav to claim the record for the most runs in a calendar year in men's T20 Internationals.
Until Thursday, Rizwan's monumental tally of 1,326 runs in 2021 had stood as the gold standard. But Karanbir, riding on a prolific run of form, toppled the mark during Austria's ongoing tour of Romania. He began the series needing 87 runs to overtake Rizwan and wasted no time in doing so, scoring 57 off 27 balls in the first match of the doubleheader on October 18, followed by a blistering 90 from 46 deliveries in the second game.
The next day, he extended his lead even further with scores of 74 (44) and 27 (12), taking his tally to 1,488 runs in 2025, a record that could take years to challenge.
Austria's Karanbir Singh leads the charge in the ICC Men's T20 WC Sub Regional Europe Qualifier Group A 2024 as the 🔝 scorer! 🌟 #EuropeanCricket #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/CdSFEOgED0
- European Cricket (@EuropeanCricket) June 21, 2024
The updated list of top run-getters in a single T20I year now reads:
Karanbir Singh (Austria) - 1,488 runs (2025)
Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan) - 1,326 runs (2021)
Suryakumar Yadav (India) - 1,164 runs (2022)
Bilal Zalmai (Austria) - 1,008 runs (2025)
Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan) - 996 runs (2022)
Interestingly, Karanbir's teammate Bilal Zalmai isn't far behind either, requiring just 156 more runs to eclipse Suryakumar's tally.
Amar Naeem 🤝 Karanbir Singh
The two openers put on a show with a massive 1️⃣8️⃣4️⃣-run stand in the final game, leading Austria to series victory! 💪#EuropeanCricket #StrongerTogether #EuropeanCricketInternational pic.twitter.com/YbIp30Y58X- European Cricket (@EuropeanCricket) September 9, 2024
Having made his T20I debut against Belgium in May 2024, Karanbir's journey from a modest start - run out for six in his first match - to breaking a world record in just his second international season is remarkable. He has so far accumulated 1,721 runs in 40 T20Is, averaging 47.8 with two centuries to his name.
Romania seems to bring out his best; in eight innings against them, he has plundered 482 runs at an average of 68.85. However, in the fourth T20I on October 19, he fell early to veteran spinner Taranjeet Singh, but Austria still posted 207/6 and secured victory by 42 runs.
