18 August holds a special significance in the Test career of Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant. Exactly eight years after making his Test debut against England at Nottingham on 18 August 2018—where he famously off-marked his Test career by hitting leg-spinner Adil Rashid for a six—Pant marked his anniversary with a historic milestone against Sri Lanka at Galle.
Batting in India’s second innings, Pant scored a brisk 66 runs, hitting two sixes during his knock. The second six, dispatched off Lahiru Kumara over deep fine leg in the 37th over, was a classic trademark scoop. More importantly, it was his 100th six in Test cricket.
With that hit, Pant became the first Indian batter to reach a century of sixes in the longest format of the game, eclipsing Virender Sehwag’s national record of 90 sixes. Pant accomplished the feat in his 51st Test match and 89th innings, making him the fastest player in cricket history to reach 100 Test sixes in terms of innings played.
The previous record was held by legendary Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, who reached a century of sixes in his 130th Test innings. Pant achieved the landmark in 41 fewer innings than Gilchrist—a remarkable feat that highlights his explosive, aggressive batting style in red-ball cricket.
To put Pant’s record into perspective, England skipper Ben Stokes required 151 innings to hit 100 sixes, whilst former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum needed 170 innings. Pant reached the three-figure mark 62 innings faster than Stokes and 81 innings ahead of McCullum.
Only four cricketers in the history of Test cricket have hit 100 or more sixes. Ben Stokes leads the all-time list with 138 sixes from 220 innings, followed by McCullum, Pant, and Gilchrist. Having comfortably shattered the speed record for 100 sixes, Pant now sits well poised to eventually challenge Stokes’s overall tally as his career progresses.
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