Can Rohit Sharma break Virender Sehwag's six-hitting record during India vs Bangladesh 2024 Test series?
Team India's Test and ODI skipper Rohit Sharma is known for his penchant for hitting sixes. Unsurprisingly, he holds the record for hitting the most sixes in international cricket. In 483 matches (509 innings), he has slammed 620 maximums. West Indies legend Chris Gayle (533) is a distant second on the list.
When it comes to sixes in Test cricket, Rohit is second on the list among Indian players. He has 84 maximums to his name from 59 Test matches. The 37-year-old needs another eight sixes to surpass Virender Sehwag's record of most sixes in Test cricket among Indian batters. Sehwag ended his career with 91 sixes from 104 matches.
Overall, England's Ben Stokes holds the record for having struck the most sixes in Test cricket. In 105 matches so far, he has hammered 131 sixes. He is followed by Brendon McCullum, who ended his career with 107 sixes from 101 Tests. Australian legend Adam Gilchrist is the only other batter with 100 maximums in Test cricket. He finished his career with exactly 100 sixes from 96 Tests.
Apart from Sehwag, Gayle (98) and Jacques Kallis (97) fell just short of reaching 100 sixes in Test cricket. Gayle has not officially retired from international cricket, but he played the last of his 103 Tests in 2014. As for Kallis, the Proteas legend hit 97 sixes in 166 matches (280 innings).
Rohit Sharma preparing for two-match Test series against Bangladesh
Rohit is preparing to lead India in a two-match series against Bangladesh at home. The first Test will be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai from September 19 to September 23. The second Test will be held at Green Park in Kanpur from September 27 to October 1. Bangladesh will go into the series high on confidence, having registered a historic 2-0 Test series win in Pakistan.
Rohit has been in impressive form in the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) cycle and will be keen to carry on his good run. In nine matches (16 innings), he has scored exactly 700 runs at an average of 46.66, with three hundreds and three half-centuries.
During India's previous Test assignment against England at home, the Indian skipper contributed 400 runs in nine innings at an average of 44.44, with two hundreds and one fifty. The opening batter hit 131 in the third Test in Rajkot and 103 in the fifth Test in Dharamsala.