Rishabh Pant etched his name into the history books on Saturday, July 12, by breaking a long-standing record held by legendary West Indies cricketer Viv Richards. During the ongoing Test at Lord’s, Pant surpassed Richards’ tally of 34 sixes in Tests against England. Richards, across his illustrious 17-year Test career, played 36 matches against England and hit 34 sixes. Pant, who is playing his 15th Test against England, now has 36 sixes to his name.
The Indian wicketkeeper-batter overtook the record when he smashed Ben Stokes for a six on the last ball of the 59th over during India’s first innings. He followed it up with another six off Shoaib Bashir on the first ball of the 62nd over.
Pant now leads the chart for the most sixes hit in Test matches against England. The updated list reads:
36 – Rishabh Pant (India)
34 – Viv Richards (West Indies)
30 – Tim Southee (New Zealand)
27 – Yashasvi Jaiswal (India)
26 – Shubman Gill (India)
Pant scored 74 runs off 112 deliveries in India’s first innings, building a crucial 141-run partnership for the fourth wicket with KL Rahul, who remained unbeaten on 98. Pant’s innings included eight boundaries and two sixes. He was eventually dismissed by a direct throw from Ben Stokes on the third ball of the 66th over, attempting to take a single that would have brought Rahul back on strike to complete his century before lunch. His inning along with KL Rahul’s century and Ravindra Jadeja’s Vital Half Century was key in helping India reach 387.
With those two sixes at Lord’s, Pant has now hit 88 sixes in his Test career. This figure sees him level with Rohit Sharma for second-most sixes in Tests by an Indian. Only Virender Sehwag has more, with 91 sixes.
Here are the top Indian players with the most sixes in Test cricket:
Virender Sehwag – 91
Rishabh Pant – 88
Rohit Sharma – 88
MS Dhoni – 78
Ravindra Jadeja – 72
Pant’s half-century at Lord’s also marked his eighth score of 50 or more in England in Test cricket, achieved in just 22 innings. With that, he equalled MS Dhoni’s record for most 50-plus scores in England by a designated visiting wicketkeeper. Dhoni, during his nine-year Test career, reached the milestone eight times in 23 innings.