India vs England, 3rd Test: Rishabh Pant first Indian batsman to open his account with a six in Tests

Off his first Test delivery he faced, Pant drove confidently to covers for no run. Rashid then flighted one, a googly and BOOM. Pant walked down the track nonchalantly and hoisted one over the bowler’s head for a six. His first scoring shot, talk about having confidence.

And with that audacious hit, Pant, 20, became the first Indian player to open his Test account with a maximum and 12th overall.

When Virat Kohli was undone by Adil Rashid off the last ball of the 76th over for 97, in walked Rishabh Pant, India’s 291st Test player. He started at the non-striker’s end watching Hardik Pandya play out a maiden from Ben Stokes before taking guard to Rashid.

Off his first Test delivery he faced, Pant drove confidently to covers for no run. Rashid then flighted one, a googly and BOOM. Pant walked down the track nonchalantly and hoisted one over the bowler’s head for a six. His first scoring shot, talk about confidence.

And with that audacious hit, Pant, 20, became the first Indian player to open his Test account with a maximum and 12th overall. Pant finished day one unbeaten on 22 off 32 delvieries.

India finsihed the day at 307 for six with Virat Kohli scoring 97 and Ajinkya Rahane adding 81. For England, Chris Woakes picked three wickets, while James Anderson became only the second bowler after Muttiah Muralitharan to take 100 wickets against India in Tests.

Players who opened their Test career a six:

Eric Freeman (Australia)

Carlisle Best (West Indies)

Keith Dabengwa (Zimbabwe)

Dale Richards (West Indies)

Shafiul Islam (Bangladesh)

Jahurul Islam (Bangladesh)

Al-Amin Hossain (Bangladesh)

Mark Craig (New Zealand)

Dhananjaya De Silva (Sri Lanka)

Kamrul Islam Rabbi (Bangladesh)

Sunil Ambris (West Indies)