Tilak Varma sets calendar-year record for most catches by a fielder in T20Is

India T20I vice-captain Tilak Varma set a record with 26 catches in 2026, surpassing Indonesia’s Danilson Hawoe. He reached the milestone against New Zealand in Christchurch, taking catches off Tim Seifert and Daryl Mitchell during Saturday’s second T20I match

Christchurch: India T20I vice-captain Tilak Varma on Saturday set the record for the most catches by a fielder in a calendar year in T20I cricket during the second match against New Zealand at Hagley Oval here.

Varma achieved the feat after taking two catches in the second T20I, going past Indonesia’s Danilson Hawoe to claim the record. He now has 26 catches as a fielder in 2026, one more than the Indonesian player managed in 2025.

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Coming into the second match, Tilak needed to take two catches to reach the milestone, and he achieved it by catching Tim Seifert and Daryl Mitchell.

He first took a straightforward catch of Seifert at cover after the New Zealand opener miscued a wild swing off Arshdeep Singh’s bowling. The Indian vice-captain then caught Mitchell, who edged the ball off the bat towards a backtracking Tilak, as Bhuvneshwar Kumar claimed his first wicket on his return to the Indian team.

Most catches by a fielder in a calendar year in T20Is:

26 – Tilak Varm (a (India), 2026

25 – Danilson Hawoe (Indonesia), 2025

24 – Muhammad Waseem (UAE), 2024

21 – Sharvin Muniandy (Malaysia), 2025

20 – Brian Masaba (Uganda), 2023

20 – Tanzid Hasan (Bangladesh), 2025

Tilak has been one of India’s safest fielders in 2026, and this achievement further underlined his consistency. He has taken these 26 catches in 30 innings this season, averaging 0.866 dismissals per innings.

India opted to bowl first against New Zealand in the second T20I in Christchurch and made two changes to the playing XI that chased down a record 226 in the first match at the same venue.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who had been on the sidelines since the Asian Games, returned to the team and was set to bat at No. 3 rather than his usual opening position, India captain Shreyas Iyer confirmed at the toss. The other change saw Prince Yadav come in for Mayank Yadav.