Rishabh Pant becomes fastest batter to hit 100 Test sixes, breaks Adam Gilchrist's record

Rishabh Pant became the fastest batter in history to reach 100 sixes in Test cricket on August 18, 2026, during the first Test between India and Sri Lanka at Galle International Stadium. The 28-year-old wicketkeeper-batter achieved the milestone off just 4918 deliveries, comfortably surpassing the previous record of 6578 deliveries set by former Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist.

The timing of the achievement carries a striking personal dimension for Pant. His Test debut came against England in Nottingham on August 18, 2018, which means the record arrived exactly eight years to the day after he first pulled on whites for India in the longest format.

Pant is only the fourth batter in history to clear the boundary 100 times in Tests, joining Gilchrist, Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes in that exclusive group. His overall Test record at the time of the milestone reads 51 matches, more than 3600 runs at a near-44 average, eight centuries and 20 half-centuries.

The gap between Pant's mark and those of the other three members of the club is substantial. Gilchrist, whose record Pant has now erased, needed 6578 balls to reach the landmark. Stokes required 9042 deliveries, while McCullum took 9756 balls to get there, making Pant's 4918-delivery effort the fastest by a considerable distance.

Stokes currently leads all batters for the most Test sixes overall, having struck 138 maximums in the format. With Pant still only 28 years old, he has ample opportunity to close that gap over the remainder of his career.

In the ICC World Test Championship, Pant has accumulated 80 sixes, placing him second on that list behind Stokes, who has 88.

Pant's century of Test sixes has been spread across a range of conditions and continents, underlining his ability to attack in varied environments. Across 16 home Tests, he has cleared the ropes 41 times. His 28 sixes in England represent a particularly impressive return given the conditions there, while he has added 15 more during tours of Australia.

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The first Test between India and Sri Lanka runs from August 15 to 19, 2026 at Galle International Stadium. Pant reached the record-breaking milestone during India's second innings in the series opener, capping a Test career that has grown steadily since his debut eight years ago and now places him among the most destructive batters the format has seen.