Ishan Kishan for India - (Source:AFP)
On Thursday, February 12, India locked horns against Namibia for their second match of T20 World Cup 2026. The Men in Blue dealt a heavy blow as Abhishek Sharma missed the game due to illness. Nonetheless, Ishan Kishan did not make India fans miss the SRH star, courtesy of his fiery batting.
Notably, Ishan Kishan light up the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi and went all guns blazing. The southpaw slammed a 20-ball fifty and slammed the fifth fastest fifty in the history of T20 World Cup for the Men in Blue.
Ishan Kishan goes past MS Dhoni to slam 50
Notably, Ishan Kishan also left behind MS Dhoni to become the first Indian wicket-keeper to slam a fifty in T20 World Cup. Previously, the captain cool scored 45 against Proteas in the 2007 T20 World Cup, which was the highest score by an Indian keeper in World Cups until this match.
Here is the list of highest scores by an Indian wicket-keeper in T20 World Cup history
- 61 - Ishan Kishan vs Namibia, Delhi, 2026, Today*
- 45 - MS Dhoni vs South Africa, Durban, 2007
- 42 - Rishabh Pant vs Pakistan, New York, 2024
Ishan's knock help India slam fastest team 100 in World Cup history
Ishan Kishan's knock featured six fours and five sixes. Eventually, the southpaw returned to the pavilion after scoring 61 (24). His knock also helped India bring up the fastest team 100 in the history of the T20 World Cup.
India achieved the feat in 6.5 overs and broke Netherlands' record for completing team hundred in 7 overs against Ireland in Sylhet in 2014. Here is the list.
Fastest Team 100s in T20 WCs:
- 6.5 Overs by India vs Namibia, Delhi, 2026, Tonight*
- 6.6 Overs by Netherlands vs Ireland, Sylhet, 2014
Ishan Kishan shines in Abhishek Sharma's absence
It was a crucial knock for Ishan Kishan because he was the leading man in Abhishek Sharma's absence. Ishan was handed the responsibility to utilise the powerplay and put a big score on the card and the southpaw didn't disappoint.
Shedding light on Abhishek Sharma, the southpaw failed to recover in time from his illness and Suryakumar Yadav at the toss stated that he might miss a game or two as well.
"Abhishek is still not fine. He will take a game or two, I don't know. But, Sanju comes in for Abhishek. Similar batter. Explosive. Bumrah comes in for Mohammed Siraj as well," remarked Suryakumar Yadav during the toss.
Meanwhile, the BCCI also quickly took to twitter to provide an update on Abhishek's health.
"๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ๐: Abhishek Sharma is still recovering from his illness and was unavailable for selection. The BCCI medical team is closely monitoring his progress," tweeted BCCI after the India vs Namibia toss.
Talking about the ongoing match, at the time of writing this article, India are 138/4 after 13.3 overs and Namibia have bounced back in the game.
