Rishabh Pant has reached a peak unlike any Indian batter before him. With a six off Lahiru Kumara in the second session on Day 4 of the first India vs Sri Lanka Test in Galle, the wicketkeeper-batter became the first Indian to hit 100 sixes in Test cricket. Overall, he is only the fourth batter to achieve the milestone after Ben Stokes, New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum and Australia’s maverick wicketkeeper-batter Adam Gilchrist. Pant is also the fastest to reach the landmark (51 matches). He is now the first player in the 149-year history of Test cricket to reach the mark in less than 80 matches.

Most sixes in Test cricket (balls per six)

138 – Ben Stokes (90.05)

107 – Brendon McCullum (93.39)

100* – Rishabh Pant (49.2)

100 – Adam Gilchrist (67.92)

Dashing wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant became the first Indian player and the fourth in the world to complete the rare milestone of 100 sixes in Test cricket during Day 4 of the opening Test against Sri Lanka on Tuesday.

En route to the milestone, Pant also became the fastest player to hit 100 Test sixes, achieving the feat in his 51st Test. Former England skipper Ben Stokes had reached the mark in his 82nd Test.

Ahead of Pant on the all-time list are Stokes (138 sixes), New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum (107 sixes) and Australia’s maverick wicketkeeper-batter Adam Gilchrist (100 sixes).

Before the start of the match, Pant had 97 sixes to his name and, in the first innings, equalled Chris Gayle‘s record of 98 sixes.

Among Indians, Virender Sehwag and Rohit Sharma are joint second on the list with 91 sixes each.

Coming into the match, Pant had 97 sixes to his name and needed three more to reach the elusive milestone. He had smashed one in the first innings while scoring 39 off 62 balls, an innings that also included four boundaries. The southpaw hit a couple of maximums in the second innings to reach the landmark. He struck Lahiru Kumara for a massive straight six that sailed out of the ground during the first session.

Pant had to wait for quite some time in the second session as he was tested by bouncers from Asitha Fernando and some disciplined bowling from Keshara Nuwantha. He batted smartly, finding regular boundaries before tonking a six off Lahiru Kumara over deep fine leg to bring up his 100th Test six. The shot also brought up his half-century off 53 balls.

Pant displayed impressive shot selection throughout the innings. He regularly left the short balls targeted at him as Lahiru and Asitha tested his patience. However, he was smart enough to avoid unnecessary risks and chose to leave several deliveries outside his scoring areas. Impressive off-spinner Keshara Nuwantha also remained in the attack for an extended spell, having dismissed Pant in the first innings.

However, Pant refrained from taking on the off-spinner with big shots and instead employed the reverse sweep to brilliant effect, hitting him for boundaries on several occasions. The 28-year-old remained crucial for India, who were looking to set a formidable fourth-innings target for Sri Lanka after losing Dhruv Jurel early in the second session for just seven runs.

India held a commanding lead of 294 runs as they went into the break at 116/4. KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal provided resistance after Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed by Fernando in the first over of the second innings. For Sri Lanka, Nuwantha, Prabath Jayasuriya and Fernando were the standout bowlers.

With agency inputs

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