Gujarat Titans (GT) skipper Hardik Pandya created history during their Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai on Monday (April 11). The hard-hitting all-rounder smashed a six against SRH to reach the milestone of 100 sixes in the tournament, the fastest by an Indian in IPL history.
Facing the bowling of South African Aiden Markram, Pandya completed the feat on the fourth ball of the ninth over to smash the ball and send it sailing over deep midwicket for the first maximum of their innings.
Pandya has reached this milestone in 1,046 balls, making him the fastest Indian to reach 100 sixes by quite a big margin. Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper Rishabh Pant is the closest Indian, having got to the mark in 1,224 balls.
Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder Andre Russell got there in 657 balls, thus making him the fastest to reach 100 sixes. Chris Gayle, who set numerous records while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Punjab Kings (PBKS), reached the milestone in 943 balls.
Pandya's former Mumbai Indians (MI) teammate Kieron Pollard is now the fourth fastest to 100 sixes, having got there in 1,094 balls. Glenn Maxwell squares off the top five, having reached the mark in 1,118 balls.
The Baroda all-rounder made his IPL debut with five-time champions MI in IPL 2015 and hit his first six on his debut game itself, against RCB on the second ball that he faced. Since then, Pandya has won four IPL trophies with MI and scored 1,476 runs in seven seasons.
Pandya was signed by Titans before the IPL 2022 mega auction itself for 15 crores and has been in very good form for his team. Prior to their match against SRH, the 28-year-old all-rounder had 91 runs at a strike rate of 151.84. He also has two wickets in these three matches with an economy rate of 7.92.
