Rishabh Pant smashed a 50-year record with his 29-ball fifty in Sydney on Saturday. (AP)
India’s swashbuckling wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant delivered a match-defining half-century, breaking the record for the fastest Test fifty by a visiting batter in Australia during Day 2 of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Sydney on Saturday.
Walking in at No. 5 after India were reduced to 59 for three following the four-run lead from the first-innings, Pant shed the inhibitions from the previous knock and pressed on the accelerator from ball one, smashing Scott Boland for a six over wide long-on. Pant then blitzed his way to a fifty in only 29 deliveries and broke numerous records along the way.
Pant’s fifty was the second-fastest fifty in Tests in Australia, behind David Warner’s 17-ball half-century against Pakistan at the same venue in 2017. Pant also set a new record for the quickest fifty by a visiting batter, breaking a 50-year old half-century by West Indies’ Roy Fredericks in 33 balls at Perth in 1975. England’s John Brown had previously held the record for his 34-ball fifty in the Timeless Test, way back in 1895.
Pant now holds the record for the two fastest fifties by Indians in Tests, following his 28-ball half-century against Sri Lanka in 2022.
Fastest Test fifties by visiting batters in Australia
29 balls – Rishabh Pant (IND), 2025 – Sydney
33 balls – Roy Fredericks (WI), 1975 – Perth
34 balls – John Brown (ENG), 1895 – Melbourne
34 balls – Chris Gayle (WI), 2009 – Perth
In Rishabh Pant’s 33-ball, 61-run innings:
🔥 6 fours
🔥 4 sixesAnd here’s every one of those boundaries #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/Hc3Sx66DSr
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) January 4, 2025
Sixes record
The southpaw Pant made an uncharacteristic 40 off 98 balls in the first innings smashed three sixes this time around, elevating him to second on the World Test Championship charts alongside Rohit Sharma with 56 maximums. Pant also surpassed Vivian Richards and Chris Gayle with his 13th Test six in Australia, the highest among all visiting batters Down Under. He eventually holed out on 61 off 33 balls on the back of six fours anf four sixes.
Pant also broke into the top-4 among Indian batters on the six-hitting charts, with only Virender Sehwag (90), Rohit (89), and MS Dhoni (78) ahead of him.
Most Test sixes in Australia (visitors)
13* – Pant
12 = Chris Gayle, Viv Richards
11 – S Broad
10 = Clive Lloyd, Rohit Sharma
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