India’s star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been out of cricketing action for more than a year now following the unfortunate car accident in December 2022. Currently, Pant is working on regaining full fitness at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. In his absence, Rohit Sharma-led India will take on Ben Stokes’ England in the five-match Test series at home commencing on January 25 in Hyderabad. Had Pant regained fitness and available for selection, he would have been slated to break legendary England all-rounder Ian Botham’s 42-year-old record in the format.
Pant is five sixes away from breaking Botham’s record of most sixes in India and England Test clashes over the decades. The southpaw has hit 21 sixes from 12 Tests. Botham is on top with 24 sixes from 14 Tests. Pant had equalled former India captain Kapil Dev's record. Dev had hit 21 sixes from 27 Tests.
With two more sixes, Pant would have surpassed Sourav Ganguly on the list of most sixes by an Indian batter in Test cricket. So far, eight Indian batters have hit 50 or more sixes in Test cricket. Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag is on top with 91 sixes from 104 Tests.
Pant also holds the record for hitting most sixes in an innings for India against England. He had hit five sixes in his 88-ball 91 against England in Chennai in 2021. For England, Botham has done it twice, once in Leeds and then in Delhi. Moeen Ali is another England batter who has achieved the feat.
Meanwhile, Stokes and Jonny Bairstow will have a chance to close the gap between them and Pant, especially considering they will follow the much-talked-about ‘Bazball’ approach irrespective of pitch conditions. Both the batters have hit nine sixes each.
From the current Indian squad, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and Rohit will also have a chance to move up the list. Jadeja has hit 11 sixes from 16 Tests so far. Rohit is tied with Bairstow and Stokes with nine sixes from as many Tests.
The Test series will kick off at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on January 25. It will be interesting to see whether these four players will move up the list in series opener.
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