India's star wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has made another big achievement in Test cricket. On the second day of the second Test being played against Sri Lanka in Colombo, Pant completed his 101 sixes in Test cricket by hitting another six. With this achievement, he has left behind Australia's great wicketkeeper batsman Adam Gilchrist and has also joined the top three.
Gilchrist had hit 100 sixes while playing 96 matches in his Test career. Pant has achieved this figure in fewer matches than him. In the last Test itself, Pant had equaled Gilchrist's 100 sixes and now he has gone one step ahead and left him behind.
Now only two batsmen ahead of Pant
Rishabh Pant has now reached third place in the list of batsmen who have hit most sixes in Test cricket. Ahead of him are former England captain Ben Stokes and former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum.
Ben Stokes has hit 138 sixes in 122 Test matches and is on top in this matter. Whereas Brendon McCullum has 107 sixes in his name in 101 Tests. Pant has made his place at third place in this list by hitting 101 sixes in only 52 Tests.
Now the next target in front of Pant is McCullum's figure of 107 sixes. That means he needs only seven more sixes to overtake him.
Pant returned to the field despite injury
Pant suffered a hand injury while batting on the first day of the second Test, after which he had to retire hurt and leave the field for some time. However, after the dismissal of Saransh Jain on the second day, Pant came out to bat again.
As soon as he returned to the field, Pant continued batting in his aggressive style. He played an important half-century of 63 runs and contributed significantly in taking the team towards a big score. The six that came from his bat was also special from the record point of view.
Devdutt Padikkal's second consecutive century
The performance of Indian batsmen in the second test against Sri Lanka has been excellent. Devdutt Padikkal scored a century for the second consecutive match and played an excellent inning of 117 runs. Earlier, he had also played a century in the first test of the series.
Captain Shubhman Gill also played an inning of 50 runs, while in the lower order, Dhruv Jurel took the lead and scored a brilliant half-century. Till the time of writing the news, Jurel was present at the crease after scoring 75 runs on 126 balls. Young all-rounder Manav Suthar was also batting with him.
India 447/7, close to 500 runs
Before the end of the second session on the second day of the second Test, the Indian team had scored 447/7 runs in 120 overs. The team is now eyeing the big score of 500 runs. The performance of the batsmen has put India in a strong position in the match.
The Indian team has already taken a 1-0 lead by winning the first test of the series. Now his eyes are on making Sri Lanka a clean sweep in the series by winning the Colombo Test.
There will be benefit from victory in WTC also
This match is also important for the Indian team from the point of view of the World Test Championship. At present India is at fifth position in the points table. If the team wins the second test against Sri Lanka, there may be a possibility of the team reaching fourth place.
In such a situation, Pant's record, excellent performance of Indian batsmen and the strong position of the team are making this Test special for India. Now it has to be seen how big the Indian team scores in the first innings and whether Pant can surpass McCullum's figure of 107 sixes in the coming innings.