Several prominent Indian batters, including captain Shubman Gill, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and Yashasvi Jaiswal, are on the verge of major personal milestones ahead of the Test series in Sri Lanka. The visitors’ strong batting lineup will look to achieve several records during the two-match series.
The first Test will begin at the Galle International Cricket Stadium on Saturday, August 15, followed by the second match in Colombo from August 23. Notably, the series is also crucial for India's World Test Championship campaign, with the visitors needing a white wash to remain in contention for the final.
Rishabh Pant Eyes 100 Test Sixes and WTC Landmark
Rishabh Pant will be India's first-choice wicketkeeper-batter in Sri Lanka. The left-hander is India's leading six-hitter in Test cricket, with 97 maximums from 87 innings. He needs only three more sixes to become the first Indian batter to hit 100 sixes in Tests.
Pant would also become only the fourth batter overall to reach the landmark, joining Adam Gilchrist, Brendon McCullum, and Ben Stokes. The milestone could be achieved as early as the first Test if Pant continues his aggressive approach against Sri Lanka's spinners.
The wicketkeeper-batter also needs 220 runs to reach 3,000 runs in the World Test Championship. Pant can become the first Indian wicketkeeper-batter to achieve the feat. He currently has 2,780 WTC runs from 40 matches and 71 innings.
Pant also has eight Test centuries, with six coming outside India. He could move to second among wicketkeepers for away Test hundreds, behind only Gilchrist, with a century in Sri Lanka. The batter could also become the first Indian wicketkeeper-batter to score a Test century in Sri Lanka.
Shubman Gill Chases 3,000 Test and WTC Runs
Captain Shubman Gill is also on the verge of multiple milestones. He needs only 31 runs to complete 3,000 runs in Test cricket, and he can achieve that in the upcoming series.
Shubman Gill also needs 150 runs to score 2,000 runs as captain. He is ahead of Pant in the race for 3,000 WTC runs. Gill currently has 2,843 runs and needs 157 more to become the first Indian batter to reach the mark.
The India captain Shubman Gill enters the series in strong form after scoring 126 in his most recent Test against Afghanistan. His performance will be crucial as India look to collect valuable WTC points in Sri Lanka.
KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal Eye Major Milestones
KL Rahul needs 170 runs to complete 10,000 international runs across formats. The experienced opener could also achieve a rare Test record. If he scores two centuries in the series, Rahul will become only the second Asian opener after Sunil Gavaskar to score 10 Test centuries outside home conditions.
Yashasvi Jaiswal is also within reach of two major landmarks. He needs five sixes to reach 50 Test sixes, which would make him only the third Indian opener to achieve the feat after Virender Sehwag and Rohit Sharma.
Jaiswal also needs 187 runs to become India's leading run-scorer among openers in WTC history. A century in Sri Lanka would bring another special achievement. He would join Sachin Tendulkar as the only Indian batters to score Test centuries in five different countries before turning 24.
