Meghalaya's Punit Bisht enters record books with 17 sixes in a single T20 inning

Meghalaya captain Punit Bisht entered the record books on Wednesday afternoon after the right-hander smacked 17 sixes in a single inning against Mizoram as part of the ongoing 2021 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Punit Bisht's 17 sixes in a single innings means he now holds the record for the most sixes hit in a T20 innings by an Indian batsman, beating Shreyas Iyer's record (15 sixes in 2019).

Coming in to bat at the loss of Meghalaya's second wicket, Punit Bisht got to his half-century in 26 balls, and post that, the right-hander took only 26 balls to score his next 94 runs.

Highest T20 score while batting at No.4 or below:-146* - Punit Bisht for Meghalaya, today131* - Dasun Shanaka for Sinhalese SC, 2016129 - Daniel Christian for Middlesex, 2014Bisht hit 17 sixes, now the highest by an Indian overtaking Shreyas Iyer's 15.#SMAT21

— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) January 13, 2021

Courtesy of his pyrotechnics with the willow, Punit Bisht smashed his way to a memorable 51-ball 146* laced with 6 fours and 17 sixes. On the back of his century, Meghalaya amassed 230/6 on the board.

Asked to scale down a massive 231-run target, the Mizoram batsmen flattered to deceive. Captain Pawan KB (33) and opener Pratik Desai (27) were the only two notable run-scorers as Mizoram finished with just 100/9 from their 20 overs, handing Meghalaya a massive 130-run win.

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What is the highest individual score in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy?

While Punit Bisht did put on a show and made his way to 146*, he fell agonizingly short of the highest individual score in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

That record belongs to Indian cricket team star Shreyas Iyer, who slammed his way to a 55-ball 147 with 7 fours and 15 sixes against Sikkim in the 2019 edition of the T20 competition.

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Punit Bisht was with the Delhi Daredevils for IPL 2012

End Of Over 20 - Meghalaya 230/6 Punit Bisht 146(51) Lerry 1(3) #MEGvCAM #SyedMushtaqAliT20

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 13, 2021

Notably, the right-hand batsman was a part of the Delhi Daredevils squad led by dashing opener Virender Sehwag in IPL 2012. However, he did not get a chance to feature in the playing XI and was forced to watch the games from the benches throughout the season.