Gujarat Titans' skipper Hardik Pandya becomes fastest Indian to hit 100 IPL sixes with 86m shot - Watch
GT skipper Hardik becomes fastest Indian to hit 100 IPL sixes (Photo IPL/BCCI)
On Monday evening (April 11), the Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans (GT) lost their first-ever game in IPL 2022 after being unbeaten post three outings. Facing an inconsistent Kane Williamson's Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), the Gujarat team fell behind by 8 wickets at the Dr. DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai.
While it was a tough encounter for skipper Hardik, who lost his first game as an IPL captain, the all-rounder tried his level best to keep the new franchise's unbeaten streak alive. The flamboyant cricketer returned with an unbeaten 42-ball 50*and later also chipped in with a wicket (4-0-27-1) in SRH's 163-run chase to play his role with distinction.
During his unbeaten half-century, Hardik achieved a huge record as well. The 28-year-old all-rounder smacked a huge 86-m six, off Aiden Markram, to become the fastest Indian to hit 100 maximums in IPL history. Here's the video of his monstrous hit:
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Overall, Hardik became the 26th batter to achieve the elite feat (joining Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, David Warner, Virat Kohli etc.) and 14th Indian overall. He is the fastest to the 100-sixes club in terms of balls faced. He completed the record in just 1,046 deliveries.
Talking about the SRH-GT clash, Hyderabad opted to bowl first and rode on Bhuvneshwar Kumar-T Natarajan's two wickets apiece to restrict Gujarat to 162-7. In reply, Abhishek Sharma, Williamson's 57 and Nicholas Pooran's 18-ball 32* propelled SRH to an easy win in 19.1 overs.