5 batters with most sixes in ODIs ft. Rohit Sharma
Team India captain Rohit Sharma is known as the 'Hitman' for his ability to strike big hits at will in ODIs and T20Is, particularly his talent to clear the ropes on a rather frequent basis. His big-hitting skills were on show during the recently concluded one-day series in Sri Lanka. Even though the Men in Blue lost the three-match series 2-0, the Indian skipper finished as the leading run-getter.
In three innings, the 37-year-old smashed 157 runs at an average of 52.33 and a strike rate of 141.44. Rohit began the series with 58 off 47 balls and followed it up with scores of 64 off 44 and 35 off 20. The right-handed batter struck a total of eight sixes during the three-match series.
Not surprisingly, Rohit features on the illustrious list of batters with most sixes in the one-day format. In the wake of his exploits in Sri Lanka, we take a look at the list of the top five batters with the most sixes in ODIs.
#5 MS Dhoni (229 sixes)
Former India captain MS Dhoni features at number five on the list of batters with the most sixes in the one-day format. He featured in exactly 350 ODI matches and hammered 229 sixes. Dhoni amassed 10773 runs in one-day cricket at an average of 50.57 and a strike rate of 87.56, with 10 hundreds and 73 half-centuries.
Dhoni smacked 10 sixes in his career-best ODI knock of 183* against Sri Lanka in Jaipur in October 2005. He also hit six sixes in his 134 against England in Cuttack in January 2017. The right-handed batter struck six maximums in 109* against Hong Kong in Karachi in June 2008.
#4 Sanath Jayasuriya (270 sixes)
Former Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya is at No. 4 on the list of batters with most sixes in the one-day format. He played 445 ODI matches and clobbered a total of 270 sixes. Jayasuriya totaled 13430 runs in one-dayers at an average of 32.36 and a strike rate of 91.20, with 28 tons and 68 half-centuries.
A destructive left-handed batter, Jayasuriya struck 11 sixes in his 134 against Pakistan in Singapore in April 1996. This was the same knock in which he raced to 100 in 48 balls, then a record for the fastest century in ODIs. Jayasuriya also slammed seven sixes in his 107 against Bangladesh in Port of Spain in 2007.
#3 Chris Gayle (331 sixes)
West Indies legend Chris Gayle has clobbered 331 sixes in his one-day career so far. The 44-year-old Jamaican-born big-hitter has featured in 301 ODIs and has amassed 10480 runs at an average of 37.83 and a strike rate of 87.19, with 25 centuries and 54 fifties.
Gayle hammered as many as 16 sixes in his stunning knock of 215 against Zimbabwe in Canberra during the 2015 World Cup. The southpaw also slammed 14 sixes in his whirlwind 162 against England in St George's in February 2019 and 12 maximums against the same opposition during his innings of 135 in Bridgetown, also in February 2019.
#2 Rohit Sharma (331 sixes)
During his knock of 35 in 20 balls in the third ODI against Sri Lanka in Colombo, Rohit equaled Gayle's record for most sixes in the one-day format. He has 331 maximums to his name from 265 matches in which he has scored 10866 runs at an average of 49.16 and a strike rate of 92.43.
The Indian captain smacked 16 sixes in his knock of 209 against Australia in Bengaluru in November 2013. The Hitman also struck 12 sixes in his blazing knock of 208* against Sri Lanka in Mohali in December 2017. Rohit clubbed nine sixes against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens in November 2014 en route to his record-breaking knock of 264.
#1 Shahid Afridi (351 sixes)
Former Pakistan captain and swashbuckling batter Shahid Afridi leads the list of players with the most sixes in one-day international cricket. Afridi featured in 398 ODIs and slammed a total of 351 sixes. Rohit still needs 21 sixes to go past 'Boom Boom' Afridi's all-time record.
Afridi hammered 11 sixes in his blazing knock of 102 against Sri Lanka in Nairobi in October 1996. This was the same innings in which he registered a then-record hundred off 37 balls. The maverick batter also whacked nine sixes in his 102 against India in Kanpur in April 2005 and eight sixes in his 108* against New Zealand in Sharjah in April 2002.