Nicholas Pooran scripted T20 history on Friday (September 27) night in Trinidad as he achieved the most number of runs by a batter in a calendar year in the shortest format of the game. Pooran required five runs going into the CPL 2024 fixture against the Barbados Royals to leave Mohammad Rizwan behind and he achieved the same in the first over of the clash, playing for the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR).
Pooran ended up scoring 27 runs off just 15 balls before being dismissed by Naveen ul Haq. Pooran has now 2,059 runs to his name in T20s in 2024 while Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Rizwan had amassed 2,036 runs in 2021. Pooran and Rizwan are the only two batters to score 2,000-plus runs in a calendar year in T20 cricket.
Most runs in a calendar year in T20 cricket
- Nicholas Pooran (WI, DSG, NOS, LSG, TKR, MIE, MINY, RR) - 2059 runs in 65 innings (2024)
- Mohammad Rizwan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, MS, PAK) - 2036 runs in 45 innings (2021)
- Alex Hales (ENG, IU, Notts, THU, TRT) - 1946 runs in 61 innings (2022)
- Jos Buttler (ENG, Lancs, MNO, PR, RR) - 1833 runs in 55 innings (2023)
- Mohammad Rizwan (Sussex, MS, PAK) - 1817 runs in 44 innings (2022)
- Babar Azam (Central Punjab, KK, PAK) - 1779 runs in 43 innings (2021)
- Chris Gayle (BB, JT, REN, RCB, Somerset, WI) - 1665 runs in 36 innings (2015)
- Shan Masood (MS, Derbyshire, PAK, Balochistan) - 1643 runs in 53 innings (2022)
- Virat Kohli (RCB, India) - 1614 runs in 29 innings (2016)
Pooran had already leapfrogged Chris Gayle to achieve the most number of sixes in a calendar year in all T20s. Gayle had 135 sixes to his name in 2015 while Pooran became the first player in history to smash 150-plus in a single year.
As for the match, it is of more relevance for the Barbados Royals given they still have a chance to finish in the top two. Even though the Knight Riders can also reach the 12-point mark, their net run rate is too inferior to even try and push for a win by a certain margin.
