Most sixes in Test cricket: Ben Stokes finished on top with 138

Ben Stokes has hit the most sixes in Test cricket, and unlike most entries on this list that is now a closed number. Stokes retired from international cricket at Trent Bridge on 29 June 2026, finishing on 138 sixes in 122 Tests.

That matters for a record list, because almost every version of this table still carries 136 and describes him as active. Here is the current top 10, what Stokes actually finished on, and why Rishabh Pant is the one name that could still change the order.

Most sixes in Test cricket: the all-time top 10

Men’s Test cricket, career sixes. Nine of these ten careers are finished. Rishabh Pant is the only man here still playing.

#	Player	Country	Tests	Sixes	Career
1	Ben Stokes	England	122	138	2013-2026
2	Brendon McCullum	New Zealand	101	107	2004-2016
3	Adam Gilchrist	Australia	96	100	1999-2008
=4	Tim Southee	New Zealand	107	98	2008-2024
=4	Chris Gayle	West Indies	103	98	2000-2014
6	Jacques Kallis	South Africa	166	97	1995-2013
7	Rishabh Pant	India	49	95 and counting	2018-present
8	Virender Sehwag	India	104	91	2001-2013
9	Angelo Mathews	Sri Lanka	119	90	2009-2025
10	Rohit Sharma	India	67	88	2013-2025

Brian Lara also finished on 88, from 131 Tests. Three Indians make the ten, and the one at the top of them arrived quickest.

Ben Stokes and a record that closed in June 2026

Stokes took the record from Brendon McCullum in 2023 and then spent three years putting it out of reach, which is a slightly odd thing to have done with McCullum sitting in the England dressing room as his head coach. He announced his retirement from international cricket midway through the deciding Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge, telling his team-mates on the fourth morning that it was his last two days representing England. The match finished on 29 June 2026.

So the number is final: 138 sixes, 122 Tests, 7,273 runs at 34.47. The nearest closed career behind him is McCullum’s 107, which means Stokes finished 31 clear — a bigger gap than the one between second and eighth on this list.

Sixes per Test, where Rishabh Pant changes the picture

Career totals reward longevity. Divide by matches played and the list reorders sharply, because Pant has hit his 95 in less than half the Tests Stokes needed.

Player	Sixes	Tests	Sixes per Test
Rishabh Pant	95	49	1.94
Ben Stokes	138	122	1.13
Brendon McCullum	107	101	1.06
Adam Gilchrist	100	96	1.04
Chris Gayle	98	103	0.95
Tim Southee	98	107	0.92
Virender Sehwag	91	104	0.88
Jacques Kallis	97	166	0.58

Pant is the only man in the ten clearing a six a Test by a wide margin, and the arithmetic that follows is straightforward. He needs 44 more to pass Stokes. At his career rate of 1.94 per Test that is about 23 more Tests, which at India’s recent schedule of roughly eight to ten Tests a year puts him level somewhere around 2029, before he turns 32.

The caveat is availability rather than ability. Pant has not played a Test since November 2025 — India played none in the first half of 2026, and he missed the New Zealand ODIs in January with an internal oblique tear before being cleared to play all formats again.

The rest of the top of the list

Brendon McCullum | 107 sixes

McCullum held this record before Stokes and remains the benchmark for a certain kind of Test batting. He made 6,453 runs in 101 Tests at 38.64 with a strike rate of 64.6, and he still owns the fastest Test century, reached off 54 balls against Australia at Christchurch in 2016. He was out for 145 off 79 in that innings.

Adam Gilchrist | 100 sixes

Gilchrist is the only wicketkeeper in the list and the only man in the top three with a Test average near 50. He hit his 100 sixes in 96 Tests, scoring 5,570 runs at 47.60 with a strike rate of 81.95, second in this top ten only to Sehwag’s 82.23.

Tim Southee and Chris Gayle | 98 sixes each

The most unlikely entry on the list is Southee, a fast bowler who batted at eight or nine and still finished level with Gayle. He got there over 107 Tests and went past Sehwag on the all-time list during New Zealand’s 2024 tour of India, retiring that December after a farewell Test in Hamilton in which he hit more sixes (three) than he took wickets (two).

Gayle’s 98 came in 103 Tests at an average of 42.18. His far larger six tallies belong to limited-overs and franchise cricket, which is a distinction worth keeping straight — see most sixes in international cricket.

Jacques Kallis | 97 sixes

Kallis needed 166 Tests, more than anyone else here, and his 0.58 sixes per Test is the lowest rate in the ten. That is the point of him: 13,289 runs at 55.37 built on placement rather than power, with the sixes arriving as a by-product of volume.

Most sixes in Tests by Indians

Pant took this record from Sehwag at Eden Gardens on 15 November 2025, off the fifth ball he faced that morning from Keshav Maharaj.

Player	Tests	Runs	Sixes
Rishabh Pant	49	3,476	95
Virender Sehwag	104	8,586	91
Rohit Sharma	67	4,301	88
Ravindra Jadeja	88	4,075	81
MS Dhoni	90	4,876	78
Sachin Tendulkar	200	15,921	69
Kapil Dev	131	5,248	61

Sachin Tendulkar is the instructive one. He played 200 Tests, more than twice Pant’s 49, and hit 26 fewer sixes.

Quick answers

Who has hit the most sixes in Test cricket?
Ben Stokes, with 138 in 122 Tests. He retired from international cricket in June 2026, so the figure is final.

How many sixes did Brendon McCullum hit in Tests?
107 in 101 Tests. He held the record until Stokes passed him in 2023.

Who has hit the most Test sixes for India?
Rishabh Pant, on 95. He passed Virender Sehwag’s 91 in November 2025.

Can anyone catch Ben Stokes?
Pant is the only realistic candidate. He needs 44 more, which is roughly 23 Tests at his current rate.

Which bowler has hit the most Test sixes?
Tim Southee, on 98 — level with Chris Gayle and fourth on the all-time list.

See also: most sixes in ODI cricket and most sixes in T20 internationals.

Figures current to 3 August 2026. Photo credit: Alamy