Stats: Rishabh Pant becomes wicketkeeper with most sixes after 50 Test innings

With gloves in hand, wicketkeepers have double responsibility on them. Dismissing batters with their glove work and scoring runs for the team are two jobs to be done by the keepers. Batting lower down the order, keepers often enjoy smashing sixes even in the Test format with Adam Gilchrist and MS Dhoni being prime examples of it.

In the ongoing Day/Night Test match between India and Sri Lanka in Bangalore, India’s Rishabh Pant became the wicketkeeper with most sixes after 50 Test innings. So far, he has hammered 44 maximums in 31 Test matches (51 innings).

Pant, who made his debut in the purest format of the game against England four years back in Nottingham in 2018, has amassed 1920 runs in 51 innings. Among the designated wicketkeepers, Pant has slammed the fourth-most sixes in Tests (44). Gilchrist tops the chart with 100 sixes, India’s MS Dhoni is on second with 78 maximums, and Aussie Brad Haddin third with 54.

Pant has cleared the ropes most times (42) after the 50 Test innings as a keeper. Dhoni and Haddin are joint-second on the list with 31 sixes after these many innings, while Gilchrist is third with 30 maximums. England’s Jos Buttler finds himself fifth in the table for hitting 21 sixes.

Most Test sixes by wicketkeepers after 50 Test innings

MS Dhoni 78 sixes in 90 Tests, Rishabh Pant 44 in 30 matches

Pant has already struck 44 sixes in his relatively young Test career. He has played 30 Test matches in less than four years and is just 35 maximums away from surpassing Dhoni and becoming the Indian keeper with the most sixes in Test cricket.

Dhoni sent the ball sailing in the stands 78 times in 144 innings that he played. The third name in the chart is Wriddhiman Saha, who smacked 14 sixes in 39 Tests as a wicketkeeper. Nayan Mongia had only five maximums to his name while Dinesh Karthik and Syed Kirmani have three sixes each in their careers.

Of all the active wicketkeepers in Tests, Pant is at the top with 44 sixes, followed by South Africa’s Quinton de Kock (33). Bangladesh’s Mushfiqur Rahim occupies third place with 27 hits over the ropes. England’s pair of Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow are fourth and fifth for smashing 21 and 20 sixes, respectively.