New Delhi:
In the last six to seven years, Rohit Sharma has been acknowledged as the ultimate six-hitting machine for India in limited overs cricket. The right-hander has been in fine form ever since he was promoted to open the batting. Rohit is the leading six-hitter in Twenty20 Internationals while in ODIs, he has 232 sixes. Rohit is the leading six-hitter in ODIs and T20Is for India but in the Vizag Test against South Africa, the Mumbai right-hander achieved a unique feat.
aving hit six sixes in his first innings knock of 176, Rohit went on to smash three more sixes in his second innings. Rohit blasted two sixes off Keshav Maharaj and another two sixes of Dane Piedt as India looked to set South Africa a big total. His combined tally of 10 sixes in the match made him the only player to have hit the most sixes in a Test, ODI and Twenty20 International. In the process, he also registered his 11th fifty but this was Rohit's seventh consecutive fifty-plus score in India, breaking the previous record of six set by Rahul Dravid in the 1997/98 series.
Rohit's tally of nine sixes is the most in a match in India, breaking the record of eight set by Navjot Singh Sidhu during the Lucknow Test against Sri Lanka in 1994. However, in ODIs and T20Is, he is the leading six-hitter in a match by a big margin. Rohit smashed 16 sixes during his knock of 209 against Australia in Bangalore in 2013. This was Rohit's first double ton and it helped India win a high-scoring series 3-2.
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Rohit blasted 10 sixes in a Twenty20 International against Sri Lanka in Indore in 2017. This mark is the most by an Indian player in a match. The Vizag knock epitomises and enhances a simple fact. When it comes to big hitting in the modern era, there is no one better than Rohit Sharma.
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The Mumbai right-hander is only the second Indian after Suresh Raina to hit a century in all formats but his current run-streak at home is simply amazing. This is Rohit's sixth consecutive fifty-plus score in Tests played in India, with his streak beginning from the New Zealand series in 2016. His current average at home, when one takes into account a minimum of 10 innings as the benchmark, is 99.20 which is better than Australian cricketing legend Sir Don Bradman. All four of Rohit's Test centuries have come in India, which includes two against the West Indies in 2013, one against Sri Lanka in 2016 and now against South Africa. However, his overseas record is poor with an average of 26.
