After Rohit Sharma broke his record for the most number of sixes ever in One Day Internationals, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has said that he is happy a player he ‘always liked’ has broken the mark. Rohit went past Afridi’s record of 351 sixes during the first ODI against South Africa in Ranchi recently.
“Records are meant to be broken and this too is now bettered. I am happy that a player I have always liked has broken this record..My record of the fastest century stood for nearly 18 years but it was finally broken. Records are set by one player and another comes and breaks them. This is cricket,” Afridi is quoted as saying by Telecom Asia Sport.
The 38-year-old Rohit cracked his 350th ODI six with a thumping slog-sweep off South Africa off-spinner Prenalen Subrayan over cow corner and proceeded to repeat the stroke off the next delivery to equal Afridi at 351 maximums in 100 fewer innings. Rohit is currently on 355 sixes in ODIs from 271 innings, while Afridi scored 351 in his career over 369 innings. Afridi, however, hit a six every 19.63 balls while Rohit’s frequency of six-hitting currently stands at one every 34.93 deliveries.
Afridi also recalled sharing the dressing room with Rohit during the first season of IPL, back in 2008, for Deccan Chargers. “I played alongside Rohit for Deccan Chargers in my only IPL season. During practice, I watched him bat and his class impressed me. I knew he would one day play for India, and he has proved himself as a classy batter,” Afridi said. To clarify, Rohit had already played for India, and was part of the 2007 T20 World Cup-winning team under MS Dhoni. He also made his ODI debut in 2007.
According to ESPNCricinfo statistics, Rohit wasn’t a prolific six-hitter at the start of his ODI career but the first of his three double centuries in the format proved to be a game-changer. He hit 16 sixes in that one innings against Australia in Bengaluru and from then on he didn’t look back. His frequency of six-hitting was 102.14 balls before that knock and 27.35 balls since.
“You don’t need just big muscles or power to hit sixes,” Rohit had once said in an interview with Yuzvendra Chahal for bcci.tv, back in 2019. “You need timing and you need to hit it from the middle, your head should be still, your body needs to be in the right position. When you take care of these things on a good wicket, you will be able to hit sixes.”