Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has dethroned MS Dhoni to become the ultimate sixer king on Indian soil in ODIs. Rohit hit two sixes in his 34-run knock in the first ODI of the three-ODI series against New Zealand at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on January 18.
Rohit had surpassed Dhoni with a six against pacer Henry Shipley in the fifth over. Once again, he could not convert a good start into a big score. The opener got out trying to hit Blair Tickner for a six over long on. He was caught by Daryl Mitchell at mid-on. He hit four fours and two sixes in the 38-ball 34.
Before the first ODI, Rohit was tied with former Indian skipper Dhoni on the list. Now, he has 125 sixes from 74 ODI innings on Indian soil. He is followed by Dhoni who had hit 123 sixes from 116 innings. He is followed by legendary Sachin Tendulkar (71 sixes), Virat Kohli (66 sixes) and Yuvraj Singh (65 sixes).
Rohit is also leading the charts across formats. He has hit most sixes on India soil (including T20Is, ODIs and Tests. He has 241 sixes from 158 appearances in Indian conditions. No other batter has hit 200 sixes. Dhoni is second on this list as well with 186 sixes.
Meanwhile, Rohit is closing in on Sanath Jayasuriya's tally of sixes in ODI cricket as well. While top spot is occupied by Shahid Afridi with 351 sixes followed by Chris Gayle (331 sixes), Jayasuriya has 270 sixes in ODI cricket. Rohit now has 265 sixes from 232 ODI innings.
Earlier, Rohit had won the toss and opted to bat first. Rohit announced four changes to the playing XI which featured against Sri Lanka in the third ODI last week. Hardik Pandya came back to the side after getting rested for the dead rubber. Three forced changes included Suryakumar Yadav for injured Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan for KL Rahul and Shardul Thakur for Axar Patel.
“We will bat first. Looks a good pitch, little dry. We want to make sure we want to bowl under lights and defend score. We did well against Sri Lanka, but this is a different challenge. Important for us to keep the momentum going. The spirit in the team is really good,” the 35-year-old said after winning the toss.
