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The history of international ODI cricket has seen many unique records that astonish cricket fans. One such rare and historic record is hitting a six off the very first ball of one’s ODI career. While batsmen in the cricketing world take their time at the crease and prefer to honor the first ball, select batsmen from around the world have created a stir by sending the first ball over the boundary as soon as they arrive. Most interestingly, in the more than 50-year history of Indian cricket, only one Indian player has ever achieved this magical feat.

The only Alexander of Indian cricket who hit a six off the first ball

The only Indian batsman to join this very exclusive club is none other than Team India’s dashing wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan. Ishan Kishan started his ODI international career with a bang. From the moment he stepped onto the field, he proved that he was destined to become the next sensation in Indian batting. His fearless and aggressive style surprised everyone, from selectors to cricket pundits.

When and against which team was this historic record achieved?

This historic event occurred during India’s tour of Sri Lanka in 2021. Ishan Kishan made his debut in this ODI match played in Colombo. When he came to bat during the Indian innings, Sri Lankan off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva was bowling. Without hesitation or nervousness, Ishan used his footwork to hit a magnificent and towering six over long-on off Dhananjaya’s very first ball. With this six, his name was forever etched in the pages of history.

These legends are included in this special club of world cricket

Globally, the number of batsmen who have hit a six off their first ball in ODI cricket is very low. Before Ishan Kishan, names like West Indies’ explosive opener Chris Gayle, Sri Lanka’s Johan Gunnesekera, and Canada’s Mark Baweja have already joined this unique club. But in Indian cricket, even legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni, or Rohit Sharma couldn’t achieve on their debut, but young Ishan Kishan achieved it in the blink of an eye.

Ishan created another record by scoring a half-century on his debut match.

Ishan Kishan didn’t stop at hitting a six off the first ball; he also played an aggressive half-century innings of 59 runs in his debut ODI, facing just 42 balls. In this innings, he hit 8 fours and 2 magnificent sixes. With this, he became the first Indian batsman, and one of the few in the world, to score a half-century in both his ODI and T20I debuts. Even today, his record remains a great inspiration for new players.