Rohit Sharma stands a chance of blowing past another big record for India as the men in blue prepare to take on New Zealand in a three-match Test series, beginning in Bangalore on October 16.
Rohit currently sits on 87 sixes in red-ball cricket, aided by his big flurry against Bangladesh in Kanpur as he spurred on a massive innings for his team.
He now sits only three maximums behind the record for India, with Virender Sehwag’s 90 being the benchmark.
Three more sixes could help Rohit tie Sehwag, with enough matches in this series to help the captain and opener overtake his predecessor in the role.
Most sixes for India in Test cricket:
Virender Sehwag: 90
Rohit Sharma: 87
MS Dhoni: 78
Sachin Tendulkar: 69
Ravindra Jadeja: 66
Rohit isn’t the only player who could climb their way up the list, with Ravindra Jadeja also sitting only three behind Sachin Tendulkar.
Lower down the list, Rishabh Pant sits on 59 sixes, just two off Kapil Dev in sixth place, and will be looking to climb his way up these standings himself. Further down, Yashasvi Jaiswal already has 32 sixes in 20 innings, hitting maximums at a meteoric rate at the start of his career.
Rohit Sharma already holds the record for the most international sixes across formats. He has hit 623 maximums across all three formats, sitting well clear of second place Chris Gayle on 553. The next highest active player is Jos Buttler, with 340.
Across international players, Rohit Sharma is currently tied on 87 with Angelo Matthews and Chris Cairns. He sits within touching distance of Tim Southee, Brian Lara, and Sehwag, and could enter the top five by overtaking Jacques Kallis’ total of 97.
The player with the most Test sixes overall is Ben Stokes, who has established a healthy lead with 131 sixes in red-ball cricket. Current England coach Brendon McCullum and Adam Gilchrist are the other two players who are in triple digits in this list.
New Zealand and India will kick off their series in Bangalore, but will be hoping that rain doesn’t play spoilsport as poor weather affects the city ahead of the start of the match.
