Rohit Sharma breaks Shahid Afridi’s record for most sixes in ODIs

On November 30 at Ranchi, India will play South Africa in their first One-Day International. The Men in Blue will have to bat first in the game after losing the toss once more. The Indian team's starting lineup for the game has undergone a number of alterations. The game is even more thrilling to watch because the pitch conditions appear to be perfect for both bowlers and batters.

In the absence of Temba Bavuma, South Africa's captain, Aiden Markram, defeated Indian stand-in skipper KL Rahul in the toss. The South African captain chose to bowl first due to the dew of the evening.

Ruturaj Gaikwad returned to India's ODI lineup, and KL Rahul replaced Rishabh Pant as the keeper. Additionally, India used three spinners: Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar. The three pacers are Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, and Harshit Rana.

India's innings began with 25 runs from Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal until Jaiswal was out for 18 runs after hitting two fours and one six.

Rohit Sharma breaks Shahid Afridi’s ODI record for most sixes, going past his 351-six record

After Virat Kohli joined Rohit Sharma in the middle, the two mainstays of Indian cricket attacked the South African bowlers, scoring their individual half-centuries quickly and adding more than 100 runs in the current partnership—their second in two games.

With a powerful slog-sweep from South Africa off-spinner Prenalen Subrayan over cow corner, the 38-year-old Rohit smashed his 350th ODI six. He then repeated the shot off the subsequent delivery to tie Afridi at 351 maximums in 100 fewer innings. 

Given that Afridi's ODI career was restricted to just 6892 deliveries between 1996 and 2015—a six every 19.6 deliveries he faced—it is noteworthy that he scored as many maximums in double quick time.

With 645 across formats, the seasoned India opener is still at the top of the international game despite smoking a six in 50-over cricket every 35 deliveries. With 205 sixes in 151 innings across his 17-year career, Rohit, who retired from T20I cricket last year, is still the only player in the format to hit 200 or more.

Virender Sehwag and Rishabh Pant are the only Indian batsmen to surpass Rohit's 89 sixes during his Test career.

Batters With Most Sixes In ODI Cricket:

1. Rohit Sharma (India): 352 sixes

2. Shahid Afridi (Pakistan): 351 sixes 

3. Chris Gayle (West Indies): 331 sixes

4. Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka): 270 sixes

5. MS Dhoni (India): 229 sixes

6. Eoin Morgan (England): 220

Stay updated with the latest cricket news, match insights, and exclusive updates at BetBarter and download the BetBarter app to start betting today!