Rishabh Pant quickest to 100 Test sixes; Gilchrist, Stokes and McCullum follow

Rishabh Pant reached 100 sixes in Test cricket in just 89 innings and 4,918 balls, the fastest to that milestone, with Adam Gilchrist, Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum ranking behind him.

Test cricket has traditionally been associated with patience and orthodox batting, but several players have adopted more aggressive approaches in recent years; Brendon McCullum is often credited with that shift, and Rishabh Pant is described in the original report as one of the most unconventional batters in Test history.

Adam Gilchrist reached 100 Test sixes in 130 innings and had taken 6,578 balls to reach the milestone; that pace held as the benchmark for more than two decades before Pant surpassed it.

Rishabh Pant achieved the milestone in 89 innings and 4,918 balls and did so in almost 1,650 fewer deliveries than Gilchrist, according to the figures provided; the report also characterises Pant as known for out-of-the-box strokeplay and a spirit of taking the attack to every bowler.

Ben Stokes reached 100 Test sixes during his 151st Test innings, placing him third on the list behind Rishabh Pant and Adam Gilchrist, and he had faced 9,042 deliveries to reach the mark, moving ahead of his then-coach Brendon McCullum in the rankings.

Brendon McCullum required 170 innings and faced 9,756 balls to record 100 Test sixes, placing him fourth among the players listed.

Pant went on to hit three sixes across the two innings against Sri Lanka in the First Test at Galle. The piece was written by Subhomoy Datta.