A series of towering sixes

The just-concluded India [ Images ] - Pakistan Test series will go down in the record books as the series of sixes.

There were 49 sixes hit in the series -- 37 by Pakistan's batsmen and 12 by India's.

The first Test, in Lahore [ Images ], saw 13 sixes being hit -- 12 by Pakistan and one by India.

The second Test, in Faisalabad, had a world record 27 -- 18 for the hosts and 9 for the visitors.

The final Test, in Karachi, where there was some assistance for the bowlers, had nine -- 7 for Pakistan and two for India.

Shahid Afridi [ Images ] alone hit 14 sixes and equalled the existing world record of most sixes in a series.

Mohammad Yousuf [ Images ] (7), Abdul Razzaq [ Images ] (6), Shoaib Akhtar [ Images ] (4), Kamran Akmal (2), Shoaib Malik [ Images ] (1), Inzamam-ul Haq (1), Younis Khan [ Images ] (1) and Faisal Iqbal [ Images ] (1) were the others to hit sixes.

For India, Mahendra Singh Dhoni led the table with 4 sixes -- all coming in one innings, at Faisalabad.

Irfan Pathan [ Images ] (3), Harbhajan Singh [ Images ] (2), Virender Sehwag [ Images ] (1), Zaheer Khan [ Images ] (1) and Yuvraj Singh [ Images ] (1) were the other Indians to clear the boundary line.

The 49 sixes is the second-highest tally of sixes in a series.

The 2005 Ashes had seen 51 sixes, but there were five Tests played in that series.

The 49 sixes by India and Pakistan batsmen are easily the maximum in a three-match series, eclipsing the previous record of 40 sixes, established in the New Zealand [ Images ] -- England [ Images ] series in 2001-02.

The 27 sixes in the second Test at Faisalabad also established a new world record of most number of sixes hit in a Test. The previous record was 23 sixes, in a match between hosts New Zealand and England at Christchurch in 2001-02.

The 18 sixes hit by Pakistan's batsmen in their two innings in the third Test (11 in the first and 7 in the second) also equalled the existing world record of most sixes hit by a side in a Test match.

Most sixes by a side in a Test

Sixes	Countries	Venue	Season
18	WI v Eng	St.John's	1985-86
18	Pak v Ind	Faisalabad	2005-06
17	Aus v Zim	Perth	2003-04
16	Eng v Aus	Birmingham	2005
15	Pak v NZ	Lahore	2001-02
14	SL v NZ	Auckland	1990-91
14	NZ v SA	Auckland	2003-04
14	Pak v Eng	Faisalabad	2005-06

Most sixes in a series

6s	For	Vs	Season	Tests
51	Eng	Aus	2005	5
49	Pak	Ind	2005-06	3
47	WI	Aus	2002-03	4
47	WI	Pak	1976-77	5
41	SA	WI	2003-04	4
40	NZ	Eng	2001-02	3
40	Ind	WI	1974-75	5

Most sixes in a three match series

6s	For	Vs	Venue
49	Pak*	Ind	2005-06
40	NZ*	Eng	2001-02
39	NZ*	SA	2003-04
37	Ind*	Aus	2000-01
33	Pak*	Eng	2005-06
32	Ind*	Aus	1997-98
31	NZ*	Aus	1999-00
31	NZ*	Aus	2004-05

Most sixes by a batsman in a series

6s	Batsman	For	Vs	Season
14	Wasim Raja	Pak	WI*	1976-77
14	A Flintoff [ Images ]	Eng*	SA	2003
14	ML Hayden	Aus*	Zim	2003-04
14	K Pietersen [ Images ]	Eng*	Aus	2005
14	Shahid Afridi	Pak*	Ind	2005-06
13	CL Cairns	NZ *	Aus	1999-00
13	NJ Astle	NZ *	Eng	2001-02

* - series venue