Rohit Sharma equals this sixes record of AB de Villiers
The in-form Rohit Sharma has accomplished yet major milestone as he has equaled former South African captain AB de Villiers's tally of most sixes in a calendar year. He reached the feat with his second maximum against South Africa in Match 37 of the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup in Kolkata. The Indian skipper ended up scoring a fiery 40 off 24 balls.
Rohit goes par with de Villiers
Rohit has now completed 58 ODI maximums in 2023. De Villiers also smoked as many maximums in the year 2015. While the Proteas star featured in 18 ODI innings that year, Rohit has played 23 ODI innings in 2023. Meanwhile, West Indies's Chris Gayle (56 in 2019) is the only other batter with 50-plus ODI sixes in a calendar year.
Third-most sixes in ODIs
Nicknamed 'Hitman', Rohit completed 300 ODI maximums earlier in the tournament. Standing in his 259th ODI, Rohit has completed 314 maximums in the format. Only Gayle (331) and Pakistan's Shahid Afridi (351) have hit more sixes in ODIs. Among active players, New Zealand's Martin Guptill (187) is closest to Rohit. MS Dhoni (229) trails Rohit among Indians.
Most sixes in home ODIs
163 of Rohit's maximum have come in India. During his recent outing against Pakistan, Rohit went past Gayle (147) as the batter with the most maximums in home ODIs. His tally of 92 sixes in away (home of opposition) ODIs is only third to Afridi (134) and Gayle (99). Rohit boasts 59 maximums in neutral ODIs.
Most sixes in international cricket
In his outing against Afghanistan, Rohit became the batter with the most international sixes. He went past Gayle's tally of 553 maximums to get the milestone. Rohit has now raced to 573 maximums in 459 internationals. Afridi (476) is the only other batter with 400 or more sixes across formats. The next Indian on this elite list is Dhoni, who owns 359 maximums.
Here are his ODI numbers
Rohit has now raced to 10,554 runs at 49.08. His tally of 31 ODI tons is only third to compatriots Virat Kohli (48) and Sachin Tendulkar (49). He also has 54 fifties under his belt in the format. Rohit is the only batter with multiple ODI double-tons (three). He has completed 1,420 World Cup runs at an average of 61.73.
A fiery knock from Rohit
Rohit made his intentions clear straightaway as he went after the bowlers from the outset. He smashed the likes of Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen en route to his fiery 40. A mistimed shot meant the opener eventually fell to Kagiso Rabada. Besides two sixes, he also smashed six fours. His brilliance meant India were 91/1 after the first 10 overs.
