Indian Test vice-captain Rishabh Pant has surpassed renowned opener Virender Sehwag to become the team’s top six-hitter in red-ball cricket. In just his 48th Test, which is currently underway against South Africa at Eden Gardens, Pant reached the milestone.
After skipper Shubman Gill was retired on the second morning owing to neck tightness, Pant entered the batting order. By hitting his 91st Test six on the fifth ball of his innings, he passed Sehwag and launched an assault on South African spinners Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj. However, his brief appearance was cut short when he was removed for 27 off 24 balls, which included two fours and two sixes.
Most of India’s sixes in Test matches
| Player | Matches | Innings | Sixes |
| Rishabh Pant | 48* | 83 | 92 |
| Virender Sehwag | 103 | 178 | 90 |
| Rohit Sharma | 67 | 116 | 88 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 88* | 130 | 80 |
| MS Dhoni | 90 | 144 | 78 |
After suffering a long injury layoff during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, where he injured his foot, Pant made his comeback to international cricket. After months of recuperation, he returned to action for India A in the two-match unofficial Test series against South Africa A. After returning, he made an impression by scoring two half-centuries in spite of suffering many body injuries over the series.
Pant returned to the Indian Test setup and batted with his usual flare in an attempt to thrash the visitors in Kolkata.
His innings was short-lived, though, as he was dismissed for 27 runs off of 24 balls after skying an edge to wicketkeeper Corbin Bosch off of Kyle Verreynne’s bowling.
He will become the first Indian and only the fourth player in Test cricket history to get to 100 sixes in the format if he hits at least eight more during the current series against South Africa.
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