Haren
Rishabh Pant became the third batter to slam 50 sixes in the ICC World Test Championship across three cycles, reaching the feat during India’s chase against New Zealand in the third Test at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
Pant followed England captain Ben Stokes and India skipper Rohit Sharma as the third batter to the mark, reaching the milestone in only his 51st innings across three cycles. Returning after more than a year’s break earlier in September, Pant has tonked 12 sixes in 10 innings.
Pant is India’s third-highest run-getter across three WTC cycles, behind Rohit (2684) and Virat Kohli (2427). Pant also broke into the top six of India’s highest six-hitters in Test cricket, with only Virender Sehwag (90), Rohit (88), MS Dhoni (78), Sachin Tendulkar (69) and Ravindra Jadeja (68) ahead of him.
Pant has struck 67 maximums in only 66 innings in his career, making him the only batter to have amassed as many sixes in Tests quicker than one-per innings.
In the first Test against Bengaluru, Pant fell on 99, missing his seventh Test ton. He smacked five sixes – the joint-most for him in an innings. The other two instances where he struck five sixes also ended with dismissals in the nineties – 91 v England in 2021 and 93 v Bangladesh in 2022.
Interestingly, five Indians occupy the top 10 list of highest sixes in the World Test Championship, with Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Jadeja following Rohit and Pant.
Most World Test Championship sixes
81 sixes (92 innings) – Ben Stokes
56 sixes (64 innings) – Rohit Sharma
50 sixes (51 innings) – Rishabh Pant
35 sixes (26 innings) – Yashasvi Jaiswal
32 sixes (67 innings) – Jonny Bairstow
31 sixes (54 innings) Shubman Gill
