Exactly five weeks after surpassing Chris Gayle in the list of most sixes in international cricket, Indian captain Rohit Sharma has now outperformed the former West Indian captain to hit most sixes in ODI World Cup history. Sharma managed to achieve the feat after hitting his third six of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 first semi-final against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium.
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Having won the toss and opted to bat first, the right-handed batter didn’t let the pressure of a knockout match affect his modus operandi. Not bothering to tinker with his tempo, Sharma kick-started the knockout phase by hitting a couple of boundaries in the first over bowled by his former Mumbai Indians‘ teammate Trent Boult.
In Boult’s second over, Sharma stepped out against the left-arm bowler to hit the first six of the match over the extra cover region. In the next over, Sharma attacked Tim Southee to hit his second six via an elegant flick. Having equaled Gayle’s record of 49 sixes with this shot, the Hitman took refuge in his quintessential pull shot in Boult’s third over to register the 50th six of his World Cup career.
Sharma, who welcomed New Zealand all-rounder Mitchell Santner by hitting a boundary on the second delivery that he bowled, increased the extent of harsh treatment by pulling a rank short delivery over deep square leg for his fourth six of the match.
Unlike Gayle, who batted 35 times across five World Cup editions, Sharma allured a personal milestone in his 27th innings across third World Cup.
| S. No. | Sixes | Batter | Matches | Runs | Strike Rate |
| 1 | 51 | Rohit Sharma (IND) | 27 | 1,528 | 104.51 |
| 2 | 49 | Chris Gayle (WI) | 35 | 1,186 | 90.53 |
| 3 | 43 | Glenn Maxwell (AUS) | 25 | 898 | 161.51 |
| 4 | 37 | AB de Villiers (SA) | 23 | 1,207 | 117.29 |
| 5 | 37 | David Warner (AUS) | 27 | 1,491 | 100.47 |
Rohit Sharma ODI Sixes In 2023
Taking into consideration Sharma’s revamped batting approach working wonders for both him and the team, it isn’t surprising that the Indian skipper has hit the most number of sixes in 2023. Sharma, who has batted 25 times in this format this year, has scored 1,208 runs at an average and strike rate of 52.52 and 116.04 respectively.
Having smashed as many as 64 sixes thus far, he has already hit 17 more than UAE’s Muhammad Waseem (47). While South African batter Heinrich Klaasen (42) and Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh (42) are third on this list, Sharma’s opening partner Shubman Gill (39) has also hit quite a lot of sixes in 2023.
