A Decade Before Rohit Sharma Hit Most Sixes In International Cricket, Mumbai Indians Captain Had Credited IPL For Change In Batting Approach

It would be pretty safe to consider the Indian Premier League a huge blessing for world cricket. Despite its numerous benefits catering beyond cricketers, it has been through a lot of criticism including how players’ performances in other formats have taken a toll because of it. However, in an interview with CNBC-TV18 over a decade ago, India and Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma categorically denied that IPL is causing harm to other formats.

Ruling out any adverse impact on individual performances, Sharma confidently opposed a long-standing narrative around IPL affecting Indian cricketers’ output at the highest level. Sharma, who recently achieved a world record by hitting most sixes in international cricket, in fact, credited the IPL for a change in his batting approach.

Sharma, who used to be severely criticized for his strike rate being in the vicinity of 80 for the first few years of his ODI career, has drastically changed his mindset over the years. Having clearly put out his focus on giving his team a blistering start, the 36-year old player doesn’t mind missing out on personal milestones in the process.

Rohit Sharma Had Credited IPL For Change In Batting Approach

Speaking to CNBC-TV18 during the sixth season of the IPL, Sharma had laid emphasis on how professional cricketers need to prepare mentally for different formats. Frankly speaking, it is certainly unfair to blame a whole tournament for an individual’s failure in other formats.

He was adamant about the fact that players not ready to make the mental shift with respect to Test cricket won’t succeed irrespective of their IPL participation. Sharma, who was was given the baton to lead MI midway IPL 2013, further believed that additional responsibility on his shoulders made him a better cricketer.

“IPL has given so many good cricketers to India, you know? I seriously don’t know why people compare IPL to Test cricket. IPL is a different format, Test cricket is a different format. If you are mentally not ready to play Test cricket, then it doesn’t matter if you play IPL or ODI cricket, you won’t do well,” Sharma had said.

 

All-rounder Hardik Pandya and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah are two of the biggest gifts given to Indian cricket by the IPL. Of late, even rookie batter Yashasvi Jaiswal was promoted to the senior team on the back of an excellent IPL 2023 season. Interestingly, he also averages a mind-blowing 81.19 in first-class cricket. Additionally, players like Ravi Bishnoi, Rinku Singh etc. have also played for India because of the IPL.

Rohit Sharma Hit Most Sixes In International Cricket During 2023 World Cup

Played in Delhi a couple of weeks ago, it was during the India-Afghanistan ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 match when Sharma surpassed Universe Boss Chris Gayle in the list of most sixes in international cricket. Sharma achieved the milestone by pulling Naveen ul Haq over deep square leg for a six in the first powerplay.

While this was Sharma’s 554th six, he (568) is followed by Gayle (553), Shahid Afridi (476), Brendon McCullum (398) and Martin Guptill (383) at the time of publishing this story. Barring Sharma, no other player is participating in the ongoing World Cup.

Talking about Indian batters, MS Dhoni (359), Virat Kohli (289), Sachin Tendulkar (264), Yuvraj Singh (251) and Sourav Ganguly (247) are the other top batters in the six-hitting list. Even though Kohli is still going strong, he is way behind Sharma in this aspect.

Sharma, who isn’t muscular to justify the notion that only bulky batters can be six-hitters, has outplayed everyone in terms of clearing the boundary on a consistent basis. As a matter of fact, he has played fewer games than Gayle to outdo him.