Stats: Hardik Pandya's quick-fire fifty on Test debut
Padnya hit a total of 3 sixes in the innings to become the first Indian to hit more than two sixes on Test debut.
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Hardik Pandya made his bat talk on his Test debut scoring a quick fifty against Sri Lanka on the 2nd day of the Galle Test. Pandya walked out to bat when the Indian score board read 491/6 and they were looking for some quick runs to get anywhere close to 600 which could give a chance to have a go at the Lankans towards the end of the day. It was a perfect situation for the all-rounder to play his natural game.
He opened his account with a boundary on the 3rd ball he faced charging down the ground to Rangana Herath. But wickets of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja seemed to have put Pandya on the back foot and the right-hander got lucky when Dimuth Karunaratne dropped him in the slips. With Mohammed Shami offering stable support from the other end, Pandya too went for his shots smashing the pacers behind square to rattle their short ball tactics.
He hit a total of 3 sixes in the innings to become the first Indian to hit more than two sixes on Test debut. Previously, 7 players had hit 2 sixes on their Test debut including 4 players hitting two sixes in the same innings on debut.
Most sixes on Test debut by Indians:
| Sixes | Player | 1st inns | 2nd inns | Runs | Opposition | Ground | Start Date |
| 3 | HH Pandya | 50 | – | 50 | Sri Lanka | Galle | 26-Jul-2017 |
| 2 | Dilawar Hussain | 59 | 57 | 116 | England | Kolkata | 5-Jan-1934 |
| 2 | CS Nayudu | 36 | 15 | 51 | England | Kolkata | 5-Jan-1934 |
| 2 | PH Sharma | 54 | 49 | 103 | West Indies | Delhi | 11-Dec-1974 |
| 2 | BS Sandhu | 71 | 12 | 83 | Pakistan | Hyderabad (Sind) | 14-Jan-1983 |
| 2 | V Yadav | 30 | – | 30 | Zimbabwe | Delhi | 13-Mar-1993 |
| 2 | SK Raina | 120 | – | 120 | Sri Lanka | Colombo (SSC) | 26-Jul-2010 |
| 2 | S Dhawan | 187 | DNB | 187 | Australia | Mohali | 14-Mar-2013 |
Overall, only 10 players before Pandya have hit three or more sixes in an innings on their Test debut. 8 of those managed to strike the biggies in the first innings while Tim Southee and Keshav Maharaj got those in the 2nd innings on debut. Southee hit 9 sixes in an innings on debut while former Australian captain Michael Clarke hit 4. Remaining 9 including Pandya have hit 3 sixes in an innings on debut.
Most sixes in an innings on Test debut:
| Player | Team | Sixes | Runs | Balls | Opposition | Ground | Start Date |
| TG Southee | New Zealand | 9 | 77* | 40 | England | Napier | 22-Mar-2008 |
| MJ Clarke | Australia | 4 | 151 | 248 | India | Bengaluru | 6-Oct-2004 |
| BR Taylor | New Zealand | 3 | 105 | – | India | Kolkata | 5-Mar-1965 |
| CG Greenidge | West Indies | 3 | 93 | – | India | Bengaluru | 22-Nov-1974 |
| Z de Bruyn | South Africa | 3 | 83 | 206 | India | Kanpur | 20-Nov-2004 |
| Abul Hasan | Bangladesh | 3 | 113 | 123 | West Indies | Khulna | 21-Nov-2012 |
| HD Rutherford | New Zealand | 3 | 171 | 217 | England | Dunedin | 6-Mar-2013 |
| JC Buttler | England | 3 | 85 | 83 | India | Southampton | 27-Jul-2014 |
| L Ronchi | New Zealand | 3 | 88 | 70 | England | Leeds | 29-May-2015 |
| KA Maharaj | South Africa | 3 | 41* | 34 | Australia | Perth | 3-Nov-2016 |
| HH Pandya | India | 3 | 50 | 49 | Sri Lanka | Galle | 26-Jul-2017 |
Hardik Pandya was dismissed by pacer Lahiru Kumara attempting a big blow on the very next ball after completing his fifty. He took 48 balls for his half-century the 2nd fewest by any Indian on their Test debut. Yadavenadra Singh, famously known as the Yuvraj of Patiala scored his fifty in just 42 balls on his debut in 1934 against England.
Fastest fifties by Indians on Test debut:
| Balls taken for fifty | Player | Runs | Balls faced | Inns | Opposition | Ground | Start Date |
| 42 | Yuvraj of Patiala | 60 | 50 | 4 | England | Chennai | 10-Feb-1934 |
| 48 | Hardik Pandya | 50 | 49 | 1 | Sri Lanka | Galle | 26-Jul-2017 |
| 50 | Shikhar Dhawan | 187 | 174 | 2 | Australia | Mohali | 14-Mar-2013 |
| 59 | L Amarnath | 118 | 180 | 3 | England | Mumbai | 15-Dec-1933 |
| 61 | L Amar Singh | 51 | 61 | 4 | England | Lord’s | 25-Jun-1932 |
| 64 | Cheteshwar Pujara | 72 | 89 | 4 | Australia | Bengaluru | 9-Oct-2010 |
(Stats as on July 27, 2017)
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