India has produced some very talented T20I stars over the years. With IPL’s popularity graph going up each year, more and more youngsters are rising through the ranks showcasing their power-hitting abilities. Thanks to IPL, the Indian Cricket Team has witnessed some of the best T20I debuts in recent years. In this piece, we will list some of these debutants with most 6s on their T20I debut.
T20Is and youngsters performing well have become common pairs these days. A few years back, we used to get excited over a player if he played with a strike-rate of more than 140 or smack a half-century on his T20I debut. Gone are those days as a debutant hitting some experienced blokes all around the park is the new normal in the modern era of cricket. Let’s look at a few such players with the credit of hitting the most number of 6s on their T20I debut for India.
1. Ishan Kishan against England(2021) – 4 sixes:
The most recent of all debuts on this list, Ishan Kishan smacked a half-century on his debut against England on Sunday with the help of five fours and four sixes. He hit Tom Curran over the cow-corner for his first, Ben Stokes over deep square leg for his second, and the last two came against Adil Rashid over deep mid-wicket and long on back-to-back deliveries. Ishan Kishan also bagged the Man of the Match award for his fast-paced 56 of 32 in this match.
2. Murali Vijay against Afghanistan(2010) – 3 sixes:
Murali Vijay slips to the second position after holding the number one spot on this list for almost 11 years. Vijay scored 48 off 46 against Afghanistan in India’s first fixture of the T20 World Cup 2010. It was a low-scoring game as India chased the target of 116 in 14.3 overs.
In his innings of 48, Murali Vijay sent three over the fence. The First of which came off the fifth delivery of Dawlat Ahmadzai over deep mid-wicket, and the other two off Mohammad Nabi over long-off.
3. Rahul Dravid against England(2011) – 3 sixes:
Contradicting his image of being a misfit for T20Is, Rahul Dravid bags the third position on this list. He scored a 31 off 21 deliveries on his debut against England on 31 August 2011. He hit three sixes in his innings and played at a strike-rate of 156.41 in this lost cause as England won the match by six wickets in the final over.
Dravid hit three sixes off three consecutive deliveries of Samit Patel in the 11th over. First went over deep mid-wicket, second over long-on, and third again over deep mid-wicket.
4. Ashish Nehra against Sri Lanka(2009) – 2 sixes:
Yup, you read it right. Ashish Nehra steals the final position on this list. He made his debut against Sri Lanka on 9 December 2009. Nehraji may have made his debut as a bowler but contributed more with the bat on his debut. He gave away 52 runs in 4 overs and could manage only one wicket with the ball. As a result, Sri Lanka put up a massive total of 215/5 on the board, to which India fell 29 runs short.
India may have lost the match, but Ashish Nehra did all he could to make up for his bowling disaster. Nehra scored 22 off 13 deliveries with the help of one four and two sixes. He hit both of them on back-to-back deliveries of Muthumudalige Pushpakumara in the 16th over. The first one went straight over the bowler’s head, and the second one sailed over the long-on fence.
