Correspondent, 24 October: Indian youngster Tilak Varma has achieved a historic fielding milestone during the second T20 International against New Zealand. By taking two catches in the match, he established a new world record for the most catches taken by a fielder in a single calendar year in T20 Internationals, reaching a total of 26.
Varma's first catch of the game came in the second over off the bowling of Arshdeep Singh. On the third delivery of the over, Tim Seifert attempted a large shot on the on-side but was sent back to the pavilion by Varma after scoring just 7 runs. Immediately following this, on the final ball of the third over bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varma successfully caught Daryl Mitchell, who had hit the ball towards the covers after contributing 6 runs.
This performance made Varma the first player to secure 26 catches in a single year (in 2026). He surpassed the previous record held by Indonesia's Danilson Hawo, who claimed 25 catches in 2025. The distinguished list of fielders trailing this record now includes the UAE's Muhammad Waseem (24 catches in 2024), Malaysia's Sharvin Muniandy (21 catches in 2025), Uganda's Brian Masaba (20 catches in 2023), and Bangladesh's Tanzid Hasan (20 catches in 2025).
The match also marked a significant moment for Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who made his return to the Indian squad after four years. Following a prolonged wait of 1,434 days, he finally claimed an international wicket. While his official comeback occurred during the West Indies tour, a rain-abandoned match denied him the opportunity to bowl. In the first T20 against New Zealand, he bowled four overs and conceded 49 runs without taking a wicket, before ultimately finding success in this second encounter.
