Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant came out with an aggressive batting style in India's second innings on the second day of the fifth Test of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT). Rishabh Pant has overtaken legendary cricketers like Chris Gayle, Sir Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd and Rohit Sharma in the list of elite batsmen.
Scott Boland dismissed Virat Kohli, who scored just six runs, on the first ball of the 14th over during India's second over. Then Rishabh Pant came in at number five when the Indian cricket team was struggling at 59/3. On his first delivery, Pant raced down the field and smashed Boland for six over long-on.
Rishabh Pant breaks Chris Gayle's long standing record
This was the seventh instance of an Indian batsman hitting a six off the first ball of an innings in Test cricket, with Pant becoming the second player to do so in an away Test. The left-handed batsman continued his onslaught against Australia with four boundaries and reached the half-century mark off 29 balls, the second fastest ever by an Indian player.
South scored 61 runs off 33 balls with the help of six boundaries and four sixes. Australia skipper Pat Cummins dismissed Pant to give his side a much-needed lead. Pant set a new record for the most Test sixes by a visiting batsman in Australia, surpassing Chris Gayle's tally.
Pant now tops the list, followed by Chris Gayle and Viv Richards with 12 each. Stuart Broad chipped in with 11 points, while Clive Lloyd and Rohit Sharma scored 10 points each. Pant also climbed into the top four of India's all-time list for most overs in six Tests, with 73* to his name in the longest international format of the game.
Most Test sixes among Australia's visiting batsmen:
| player | a team | Matches | Runs | middle | 6 seconds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rishabh Pant | Indiana | 12 | 879 | 46.26 | 15 |
| Chris Gayle | W.I | 5 | 449 | 49.88 | 12 |
| Vivian Richards | W.I | 22 | 1760 | 47.56 | 12 |
| Stuart Broad | Engineer | 15 | 333 | 15.85 | 11 |
| Clive Lloyd | W.I | 20 | 1616 | 48.96 | 10 |
| Rohit Sharma | Indiana | 10 | 439 | 24.38 | 10 |
| Ian Bell | Engineer | 15 | 895 | 37.29 | 9 |
| Ian Botham | Engineer | 18 | 937 | 30.22 | 9 |
| Virender Sehwag | Indiana | 11 | 1031 | 46.86 | 9 |
Most of the six Tests bowled by Indian batsmen in Tests:
| player | Matches | Runs | middle | 6 seconds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virender Sehwag | 103 | 8503 | 49.43 | 90 |
| Rohit Sharma | 67 | 4301 | 40.57 | 88 |
| MS Dhoni | 90 | 4876 | 38.09 | 78 |
| Rishabh Pant | 43 | 2948 | 42.11 | 73 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 80 | 3364 | 35.04 | 69 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 200 | 15921 | 53.78 | 69 |
Australia bowled out for 181 runs, conceding a 4-run lead to India
India scored 185 runs in their first innings, with Rishabh Pant top-scoring with 40 runs. Australia ended the first day with a score of 9-1 after three overs. On day two, the Indian bowlers reduced Australia to 96-5. Debutant Beau Webster then anchored the Australian innings with a crucial 57-run knock, helping them to 181.
Yashasvi Jaiswal got off to a blistering start, hitting Mitchell Starc for four boundaries in the opener. India looked strong at 39-0 after seven overs, but Scott Boland turned things around. At stumps, India were 141-6, with Ravindra Jadeja (8) and Washington Sundar (6) at the crease.
