Rishabh Pant Becomes Fastest Test Batter to 100 Sixes, Breaking Gilchrist’s Record

During Day 4 of the 1st Test between India and Sri Lanka in Galle, Rishabh Pant became the fastest batter in Test cricket to hit 100 sixes, breaking Adam Gilchrist’s record.^[1][2]

Record‑Breaking Power

Pant had 99 sixes in his Test career before this day, a tally it followed to complete 100 in under 600 innings. The historic onslaught, directed at Sri Lanka’s fast bowler Lahiru Kumara, moved him beyond Adam Gilchrist’s 100‑sixer milestone to become the quickest to reach the mark in the format, with no fielder able to stop a delivered ball once it left his bat.^[1][2]

Ball That Broke the Rules

Pant struck Kumara on the leg side, stepping out of the crease to create space before unleashing a clean drive that packed over the wide long‑off. The ball leapt beyond the boundary, appearing to dig into a bus parked along the stadium road, prompting umpires to hazard a forced ball change out of concern that the extra‑elaborate flight could not be matched by a fresh ball.^[1]

Pant’s Legacy in Sixes

Pant’s 100th Test six places him alongside only three others who have managed the feat – Ben Stokes (138), Brendon McCullum (107) and Gilchrist himself. The explosive left‑hander’s tally now ranks him firmly among the most lethal power‑shovellers in Test history, not merely for the number of sixes, but also for the speed and sheer audacity with which he reached the landmark.^[1]