Suryakumar Yadav has the opportunity to become the top six-hitter in the rivalry’s history
India is set to open its T20I 2025 season with a five-match series against England on home soil from January 22 onward. The first game is to be played at the Eden Gardens, a stadium that hosted its first T20I game in 2011, which was also a game between India and England.
Given how the T20I format has become a destructive format with the game being all about sixes and fours, we expect the Eden Gardens to witness several boundaries, especially sixes. After all, the stadium is also the home ground of the Kolkata Knight Riders, and in the 2024 IPL, it witnessed 42 sixes in a single game between Kolkata and Punjab Kings.
Speaking about sixes, the rivalry between India and England in the T20I format has seen several batters who have hit several sixes against each other with ease.
Ahead of the first game, take a look at the maximum six hitters in the India vs. England rivalry.
Known for his explosive batting in the IPL, Jos Buttler is a very capable English batter who is also the captain of the present English T20I side. He leads the chart with 21 sixes in 22 matches he has played against India. In 22 matches, he has batted in 19 innings, scoring 498 runs at an average of 33.20 with a highest score of 83 not out.
A dip in form has kept Jason Roy away from international cricket in the English jersey. However, last summer, he made it clear that he had no intention of retiring without making a comeback. Not a part of the upcoming series, Roy still holds the second spot with his 20 sixes in 15 matches between a time frame of 2014 and 2022.
Retired last summer from the T20I format after winning the ICC T20I World Cup, Virat Kohli holds third place when it comes to sixes, with 19 in 21 games. In terms of runs between India and England’s T20I rivalry, Kohli remains way ahead with 648 runs off the willow.
Another retired player makes the list with 18 sixes to his name in 10 matches. There’s no doubt that Hales has a better match-to-six ratio compared to the other top names mentioned in the above paragraphs.
India’s star all-rounder, Hardik Pandya, is in the squad for the upcoming T20I series against England. So far, he has played 15 T20I games against the Three Lions, hitting 18 sixes, and is well in contention to go higher up the order. In terms of runs, he has scored 302 runs so far against England in the shortest format of the game.
Rohit Sharma, too, retired from the T20I format last summer after winning the ICC T20I World Cup alongside Virat Kohli. Despite retiring, he also stands among the top six hitters with 18 sixes against England in 16 matches.
Among active T20 Indian players, after Pandya, India’s present captain, Suryakumar Yadav, has the highest number of sixes, i.e., 16 against England, and is well in the position to overtake Buttler.
