Top 5 Indian batsmen with most Test sixes

Fans just love the big hits, don’t they? Sixes and fours are generally the need of the hour in T20 cricket and to an extent in ODIs. However, Test cricket is a conventional format and we don’t see a lot of big shots as the players generally grind it out. But we do see the batsmen take an odd risk or two just to release the pressure and hence, sixes are rare in Tests.

India is generally termed as a batting country and the Indian team have been blessed with some exceptional batsmen over the years.

And thus, here we look at 5 Indian batsmen with most sixes in Test cricket.

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#5 Sourav Ganguly – 57 sixes

Sourav Ganguly will probably go down as one of the best captains India have ever produced. He almost revolutionised Indian cricket after they went through one of their worst phases in 2000. He led inspirationally and completely changed the way India played all forms of cricket.

Many believed Sourav Ganguly was the God on the off-side. One of India’s most successful captains could thread even the smallest of gaps on the off-side.

However, his ability to play spin was as good as anybody in the team. He could hit the spinners out of the attack with ease. He had the wonderful ability to judge the length and use his feet against the spinners. In particular, he was pretty severe against left-arm spinners.

He hit 57 sixes in his 113-match Test career to along with 900 fours. He scored 7212 runs at an average of 42.18 in 189 innings. He also struck 16 hundreds in his Test career.

#4 Kapil Dev – 61 sixes

Kapil Dev was the best at almost everything he did. He could bat and pull the team out of trouble, he could produce, match-changing spells and he could also take some exceptional catches in the field. He was arguably the best allrounder to have represented India in both formats (Tests and ODIs).

Kapil Dev never missed a single Test match in his entire career due to injury. In fact, he was dropped only once in his playing career and he played 66 and 65 consecutive Tests on either side of getting dropped. India’s first World Cup-winning captain also had the unique ability to hit sixes at will. He struck 61 sixes in his 131-match Test career.

In fact, in one of the Test matches in 1990 against England at Lord’s, with 24 runs to avoid follow-on and No. 11 Narendra Hirwani in company, he struck

four sixes off four consecutive deliveries to help India avoid the follow-on.

Almost 57% of Dev’s runs came off boundaries. He scored 5248 runs in 113 Tests and also took 434 wickets and thus, will go down as one of the best all-rounders the world has ever seen.

#3 Sachin Tendulkar – 69 sixes

Sachin Tendulkar was much more than just a batsman. He literally carried the Indian batting line-up for a number of years in all formats. Be it Test matches or One-Day cricket, Tendulkar was the pillar of the Indian batting line-up.

With Tendulkar playing a staggering 200 Test matches you would expect him to feature in this list of Indian batsmen with most Test sixes. He holds the record for the most fours () in Test cricket and is ranked 17th on the most sixes list (3rd for India). He has scored a staggering 15921 runs in Test cricket and has 51 Test centuries.

He had the ability to play both spin and pace very well. He could pull and cut superbly and thus, that helped him score a lot of runs against quality pace attacks on fast and bouncy pitches. Against spin, he used his feet and the depth of the crease superbly.

Tendulkar didn’t have the biggest of bodies, but he could hit some long sixes and thus, ended with 264 sixes in international cricket (with 69 Test sixes).

#2 MS Dhoni – 78 sixes

This is one name in this list that shouldn’t surprise a lot of people. Mahendra Singh Dhoni right from the start of his career had the ability to hit sixes at will. India’s most successful captain in all three formats had the power to clear any boundary in the world.

One MS Dhoni six that will forever be remembered is that World Cup-winning shot over long-on. But he has struck a lot of sixes even in Test cricket. In 90 Test matches, Dhoni has hit 78 sixes in his Test career.

The Ranchi-born wicketkeeper-batsman might be one of the best finishers in limited-overs cricket, but his contribution in Test cricket also has been very good. He often stood tall when his team was in trouble. He also consolidated positions of strength by getting quick runs lower down the order. In his 90-Test career, Dhoni scored 4876 runs at an average of 38.09.

#1 Virender Sehwag – 91 sixes

If there was one batsman bowlers feared bowling at the start of the innings, it was Virender Sehwag. The Delhi opener’s ability to put the pressure on the bowlers right from the word go was exceptional. Brett Lee once said, “No matter how good and experienced you are, he (Sehwag) can kill you attitude.”

Sehwag was one of the most attacking and entertaining players of his time. In fact, in one of the T20Is in New Zealand in 2009, he hit the first three balls of the match for 3 big sixes. Even in Test cricket, Sehwag was fearless. He was never afraid to take the aerial route both against pacers and spinners.

Also, he reached his first triple century with a six and he missed out on a double ton at the MCG going for a six. Thus, that shows that he is unfazed by the occasion. He has hit 91 sixes in Test cricket (fifth most). He has hit almost 64% of his Test runs in boundaries (5478 out of 8586). And it is no surprise that he tops the list of most sixes by an Indian batsman in Test cricket.