# India first to hit 400 T20I sixes in a calendar year 2026-11-01T13:17:02+00:00 | Sports | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 5 independent outlets India became the first team in men's T20I history to hit 400 sixes in a calendar year, reaching the milestone during the fifth and final T20I against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Sunday, 1 November 2026. The landmark came in India's 40th match of 2026, when the batters struck 11 sixes to take the year's tally to exactly 400. All-rounder Naman Dhir hit the 400th six, top-edging a flick off Blair Tickner over fine-leg in the 19th over. India finished at 191/8, with Ishan Kishan hitting five sixes in his 61 off 32 balls and Shreyas Iyer adding four in his 50 off 23 deliveries. The previous record of 326 sixes was held by Austria in 2025. Among full-member nations, India's previous best was 289 sixes in 2022. Abhishek Sharma led India's six-hitting tally in 2026 with 86, followed by Kishan with 60 and Sanju Samson with 50. India also set a record for most sixes against a single opponent in a calendar year, hitting 142 against New Zealand. The five-match series, which India won 3-2, also saw both sides set all-time T20I run records: India scored 2,266 runs against New Zealand in 2026, the most by one team against any single opponent in a calendar year, while New Zealand's 2,207 runs against India placed them second on that list. Glenn Phillips was the series' leading run-scorer with 341 runs. New Zealand won the final T20I by seven wickets, powered by Tim Seifert's 93 off 50 balls and Adam Milne's 4/19. ## Indian Opinion Analysis All five sources cover the same event with uniform straight reporting, attributing the 400-six milestone to India's 40th T20I of 2026. The Times of India, ABP Live and Crictracker each add the same supporting figures: Abhishek Sharma's 86 sixes, Ishan Kishan's 60 and Sanju Samson's 50. Crictracker uniquely expands on the broader series context, reporting that India and New Zealand now hold the top two spots for most runs by one team against a single opponent in a T20I calendar year, with India at 2,266 and New Zealand at 2,207. No source frames the record critically or presents an alternative perspective, the coverage is consistently factual. The next concrete item named is the five-match ODI series between India and New Zealand starting 4 November 2026. ## Coverage Coverage: 5 sources, 5 neutral - ndtv.com (neutral report) Wire-style report of the record with no slant - timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report) Factual account with series context and phases of play - crictracker.com (neutral report) Series recap focused on aggregate run records - abplive.com (neutral report) Straight reporting with key points and match details - timesnownews.com (neutral report) Record report with background on Gambhir's batting approach This brief was synthesised by AI from the 5 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Update, 1 November 2026: this story now draws on 5 sources. Last updated 2026-11-01T14:26:49+00:00. Tags: Abhishek Sharma, India cricket team, Ishan Kishan, Naman Dhir, New Zealand cricket team Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/india-first-team-to-hit-400-t20i-sixes-in-a-year/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/india-first-team-to-hit-400-t20i-sixes-in-a-year/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/