12 Players who got off the mark with a six in Test cricket

The first run scored is very special for any cricketer. One might be the best in the business, yet, the satisfaction of getting of the mark is immense. Every player remembers the first run he scored, against which bowler and on which ground he did so.

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And it can't get better than getting your Test career off to a start by depositing the ball beyond the boundary for the maximum possible result. In its 141 years long history, only 12 batsmen are known to have scored their first runs with a six.

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Therefore, it makes it worthy to look at this elite list of players who either had the audacity or the fortune of hitting their first Test run in the form of a six.

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#12 Rishabh Pant

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Pant became the first Indian to achieve the rear feat
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The latest entrant to the list, Rishabh Pant became the first Indian to score his first Test run with a six when he deposited an Adil Rashid googly into the Trent Bridge stands, over the bowler's head.

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The 20-year old wicketkeeper-batsman, who was born in the holy city of Haridwar and plays domestic cricket for Delhi, is the 291st to represent India in Test cricket. He has pretty much made his intentions clear, by hitting his second ball in Tests for a stylish six, as to how he goes about batting and is surely a star in the making.

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#11 Sunil Ambris

Ambris top-edged Boult for what
were
his first runs in Test cricket
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Sunil Ambris made an eventful Test debut against New Zealand in Wellington on December 1, 2017. The West Indian player first bagged a golden duck in his maiden Test innings and became the first cricketer ever to get out the first ball in Test cricket courtesy hit-wicket.

In the second innings of the same match, Ambris, facing the fourth ball of his career and third of the innings, top-edged Trent Boult to open his account cheekily with a six.


#10 Kamrul Islam

Kamrul is the fourth Bangladeshi player to achieve the feat
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If Ambris scored one duck before scoring his first Test run, Bangladesh's Kamrul Islam went two steps further as he got to score his first run in whites only after being dismissed thrice for nought.

Making his debut in the 2016 home series against England, Islam, batting at Number 11, waited for four innings and 19 balls before getting off the mark. Although, when he did, he did so in grand style as he used the long handle to good effect, hitting English bowler Moeen Ali for a six.

Interestingly, Kamrul is the fourth player from Bangladesh to achieve this feat. (Read ahead for the other three)

#9 Dhananjaya de Silva

Dhananjaya de Silva is the only Sri Lankan to feature on this list
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Right-handed all-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva made his debut for Sri Lanka in the Pallekele Test versus Australia on July 26, 2016.

Coming in to bat at number six, Silva watchfully negotiated the first four balls and danced down the track on the fifth, hitting through the line, to beautifully loft Steven O'Keefe's off-spinner over mid-off for six, thus setting the ball rolling as far as his Test career is concerned.


#8 Mark Craig

Mark Craig is the only man to have hit his first ball in Test cricket for a six
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The only man in the history of Test cricket to have the first ball he faced for a maximum, Kiwi off-spinner Mark Craig is a standout on this list.

Batting on debut against the Windies in Kingston, Jamaica on June 8, 2014, the right arm offie who bats left-handed, cleanly hit Suleimann Benn for a six over long-off. It was one of the only two balls he faced in his debut match as the Kiwis declared after him scoring a single on his next ball.

#7 Al- Amin Hossain

Al Amin Hossain hit five sixes in his maiden Test
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Bangladeshi pacer Al-Amin Hossain made his debut in October 2013 against the Kiwis but faced only one delivery without much action. The next time his batting services were required by his team was in January 2014 in the Dhaka Test versus the Lankans.

Hossain did not wait any further to delay his first run in Tests as he hoiked his third ball, bowled by the veteran Rangana Herath, for a huge six over long-on.

Moreover, in the second innings of the same match, with Bangladesh following on, Hossain came in at number 11 to record his second scoring shot also a six, this time of the bowling of Dilruwan Perera. In fact, he did not stop there as he hit Perera for three more sixes in that innings to end up unbeaten on 32.


#6 Jahurul Islam

Jahurul Islam had his first two scoring shots as sixes
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Bangladesh wicketkeeper Jahurul Islam made his Test debut in 2010 against the visiting English team. He had a forgettable maiden inning as he headed to the pavilion without troubling the scorers.

In the second inning though, Jahurul came back in style. On the fifth and twelfth ball he faced, he drove English off spinners Game Swann and James Tredwell for sixes over mid-on and mid-off respectively, making his first two scoring shots in Test cricket as sixes.


#5 Shafiul Islam

Shafiul's first two innings in Tests were quite similar
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Shafiul preceded Jahurul in achieving the same feat by two months. In January 2010, Shafiul made his debut against the Indians and was slated to bat at number 10.

In his first appearance at the crease, the lanky pacer hit his fifth ball, bowled by leg-spinner Amit Mishra, for a six over an outstretched Sachin Tendulkar at long-on. In attempting a similar result next ball, he fell prey to Mishra's guile, getting caught by Yuvraj Singh.

The second innings was an action replay in many ways, as Shafiul once again blasted his fifth ball for a massive six over mid-wicket, off Mishra's bowling. Also, Mishra went on to induce the false shot on the succeeding delivery, only for Yuvraj to make a mess of a catch.

Thus, Shafiul was the first of four men from Bangladesh to achieve this feat and the first of the three to have their first two scoring shots as sixes.

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#4 Dale Richards

Dale Richards played only 3 Tests
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Dale Richards is a West Indian cricketer who only got to play International cricket when the first choice Windies team boycotted the home Test series against Bangladesh in 2009.

Opening in the innings, Richards showed supreme class when he stylishly pulled Masrafe Mortaza for a handsome six over the mid-wicket fence to open his account in Test cricket. For someone who got lucky to play three Test matches, scoring the first runs as a six is a memorable experience.


#3 Keith Dabengwa

Dabengwa is the only Zimbabwean to have achieved this feat
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Zimbabwean left-handed cricketer Keith Dabengwa played three Tests in all, all of them in the space of a month in 2005. However, he did enough to feature on this list.

In his maiden stint at the crease which was against the Kiwis at Bulawayo, Dabengwa waited for fifteen balls before opening his account. He finally did so by clubbing veteran left arm Daniel Vettori for a maximum.

Dabengwa's was the first such instance of the 21st century and it occurred 19 years after the previous such instance.

#2 Carlisle Best

Best smashed Botham for a landmark six
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In the 1986 Kingston Test between Windies and England, Carlisle Best, uncle of future Windies pacer Tino Best, made his Test debut.

Coming in to bat at number six, Best got off the mark in his Test career with a powerful hook shot off the bowling of legendary Englishman Sir Ian Botham.

Carlisle represented Windies in 7 more Tests and 24 ODI's.


#1 Eric Freeman

Eric Freeman now nurtures budding Australian cricketers
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The first person recorded to have achieved this rear feat was Australian all-rounder Eric Freeman. In his debut game against India at the Gabba in 1968, Freeman cut loose on the very second ball that he faced as he smashed Erapalli Prasanna for a six against his name.

Freeman, who batted at number eight, went on to represent the Aussies in only 10 more Tests.

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Edited by
Shruti Sadbhav
 
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