Indian batsman Rohit Sharma has broken former Pakistani captain Shahid Afridi’s long standing record for the most sixes in One Day Internationals.
Sharma reached 352 sixes during the first ODI against South Africa in Ranchi on Sunday, moving one ahead of Afridi’s 351.
Rohit achieved the milestone in 269 innings. Afridi, on the other hand, played 369 innings to reach his total. On paper, Rohit now holds the record, but a deeper comparison shows a very different picture of their hitting power.
Rohit has faced 12,321 balls in his ODI career, while Afridi faced 6,892. When the numbers are compared, Afridi hit a six almost twice as often as Rohit.
Afridi cleared the boundary once every twenty balls approximately while Rohit hits one roughly every thirty five balls.
Rohit Sharma did not start his ODI career as a heavy six hitter. He struck his first six in his third innings against Pakistan in Jaipur, and even after scoring his maiden ODI century in his 40th innings in 2010, he had managed only five sixes from 1023 balls. His big hitting skills developed much later.
Shahid Afridi, in contrast, announced himself as a power hitter from the very beginning. He did not bat in his debut match against Kenya in October 1996, but in his very next game, he blasted a 37 ball century against Sri Lanka, scoring 102 runs with 11 sixes and six fours.
His style never changed and defined his entire career.
The contrast shows that Afridi remained the more explosive batter, even though Rohit eventually surpassed his total.
Both players sit near the top of the global charts across all formats as well. Rohit leads international cricket with more than six hundred and forty sixes. Chris Gayle follows with 553, while Afridi remains third with 476 on the overall list.