Is Rohit Sharma the greatest 6 hitter ever to play the game.

[maniac]

Here is the Top 30 of all time across all formats

 

Just look at the 6's per innings rate

 

Also his test career is just beginning to pick up and he is rapidly climbing up the charts there as well.

 

Greatest power hitter to play the game and he does it with a touch of elegance without using any brute force  

 

 

Most sixes

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0	4s	6s
CH Gayle (ICC/WI)	1999-2019	462	530	32	19321	333	38.79	25128	76.89	42	104	43	2312	534
Shahid Afridi (Asia/ICC/PAK)	1996-2018	524	508	40	11196	156	23.92	9809	114.14	11	51	44	1053	476
BB McCullum (NZ)	2002-2016	432	474	47	14676	302	34.37	17872	82.11	19	76	37	1552	398
RG Sharma (INDIA)	2007-2019	345	351	53	13031	264	43.72	14904	87.43	36	69	23	1172	386
MS Dhoni (Asia/INDIA)	2004-2019	538	526	142	17266	224	44.96	21834	79.07	16	108	21	1486	359
ST Jayasuriya (Asia/SL)	1989-2011	586	651	35	21032	340	34.14	25849+	81.13*	42	103	53	2486	352
AB de Villiers (Afr/SA)	2004-2018	420	484	68	20014	278*	48.11	26787	74.71	47	109	20	2004	328
EJG Morgan (ENG/IRE)	2006-2019	330	320	49	9858	148	36.37	10707	92.07	15	59	22	825	298
MJ Guptill (NZ)	2009-2019	304	340	27	11495	237*	36.72	14858	77.36	21	66	27	1205	294
SR Tendulkar (INDIA)	1989-2013	664	782	74	34357	248*	48.52	50816+	67.58*	100	164	34	4076+	264
AC Gilchrist (AUS/ICC)	1996-2008	396	429	32	15461	204*	38.94	16910	91.43	33	81	33	1866	262
JH Kallis (Afr/ICC/SA)	1995-2014	519	617	97	25534	224	49.10	45346	56.30	62	149	33	2455	254
Yuvraj Singh (Asia/INDIA)	2000-2017	402	391	55	11778	169	35.05	14064	83.74	17	71	26	1245	251
LRPL Taylor (NZ)	2006-2019	412	460	75	16842	290	43.74	22774	73.95	38	86	28	1630	250
SC Ganguly (Asia/INDIA)	1992-2008	424	488	40	18575	239	41.46	29486	62.99	38	107	29	2022	247
RT Ponting (AUS/ICC)	1995-2012	560	668	70	27483	257	45.95	40130	68.48	71	146	39	2781	246
SR Watson (AUS)	2002-2016	307	334	36	10950	185*	36.74	14465	75.69	14	67	21	1168	245
V Sehwag (Asia/ICC/INDIA)	1999-2013	374	443	15	17253	319	40.31	18641	92.55	38	72	31	2408	243
CL Cairns (ICC/NZ)	1989-2006	279	299	30	8273	158	30.75	11702	70.69	9	48	16	710	240
BC Lara (ICC/WI)	1990-2007	430	521	38	22358	400*	46.28	32839	68.08	53	111	33	2594+	221+
MN Samuels (WI)	2000-2018	345	388	43	11134	260	32.27	17068	65.23	17	64	25	1207	219
DA Warner (AUS)	2009-2019	265	331	13	13240	253	41.63	15225	86.96	38	63	16	1470	212
IVA Richards (WI)	1974-1991	308	349	36	15261	291	48.75	17064+	78.69*	35	90	17	1552+	210+
JC Buttler (ENG)	2011-2019	244	239	40	7072	150	35.53	7523	94.00	10	42	19	657	199
V Kohli (INDIA)	2008-2019	392	435	67	21024	254*	57.13	26409	79.60	69	98	23	2105	199
Inzamam-ul-Haq (Asia/ICC/PAK)	1991-2007	499	551	76	20580	329	43.32	32172	63.96	35	129	35	2076	193
AJ Finch (AUS)	2011-2019	176	177	9	6508	172	38.73	6783	95.94	17	35	15	644	192
Shoaib Malik (ICC/PAK)	1999-2019	433	422	76	11695	245	33.80	15178	77.05	12	59	22	1028	191
Misbah-ul-Haq (PAK)	2001-2017	276	315	64	11132	161*	44.35	19386	57.42	10	84	17	898	190
KP Pietersen (ENG/ICC)	2004-2014	277	342	29	13797	227	44.07	19214	71.80	32	67	18	1531	190

[Ankit_sharma03]

in terms of consistency in hitting 6s yes no doubt about it 

[Vilander]

More than his left collar muscle for sure.

 

[Deleted_User_1]

Before my time, when I was a kid, my Dsd used to tell me that when Salim Durrani came out to bat, the Eden Gardens crowd used to urge him to hit a six which he used to frequently oblige.

 

This is mentioned even in his wiki profile!!! 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salim_Durani

[maniac]

1 minute ago, Audiophile said:

Before my time, when I was a kid, my Dsd used to tell me that when Salim Durrani came out to bat, the Eden Gardens crowd used to urge him to hit a six which he used to frequently oblige.

 

This is mentioned even in his wiki profile!!! 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salim_Durani

Wasn’t Ck Nayudu known as 6r Nayudu for the same thing. The first superstar of Indian cricket from what I heard. Andhra genes :)

[Deleted_User_1]

5 minutes ago, maniac said:

Wasn’t Ck Nayudu known as 6r Nayudu for the same thing. The first superstar of Indian cricket from what I heard. Andhra genes :)

Do not know about CK Nayudu, but I have heard about Salim Durrani lots of time growing up. Like the hai hai Shastri chants in the 80s which I have personally witnessed, my Dad used to tell me that when Chandu Borde came out to bat, the Eden crowd would yell "Chandu Borde, tu khela chorde."

[velu]

Dhoni ..

 

remove the defensive period stats of each and every batsmen , Dhoni will be light years ahead of others when comes to per capita sixes

[maniac]

8 minutes ago, velu said:

Dhoni ..

 

remove the defensive period stats of each and every batsmen , Dhoni will be light years ahead of others when comes to per capita sixes

Rohit doesn't need caveats :)  undisputed G.O.A.T

[velu]

39 minutes ago, maniac said:

Rohit doesn't need caveats :)  undisputed G.O.A.T

 

thala doesnt need any stats  

[cricketfan28]

gayle, boom boom and everyone else.

[Forward Defence]

Yes he is.

He should write a book on aesthetics of six hitting after he retires.

[Gollum]

Odd one out is the King, rest from 90s onwards.

Easy answer

Cos

Sorry @maniac, this is one battle Hitman can't win. I am even ready to rate him above Gayle, but King debuted in 74 and missed his peak years because of Packer...210+ out of 308 is out of the world !!!!!

Edited October 19, 2019 by Gollum

[Gollum]

 

Edited October 19, 2019 by Gollum

[velu]

29 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Sorry @maniac, this is one battle Hitman can't win. I am even ready to rate him above Gayle, but King debuted in 74 and missed his peak years because of Packer...210+ out of 308 is out of the world !!!!!

 

210+ out of 349 innings..

386 out of 351 innings ( hitman )

[Gollum]

9 minutes ago, velu said:

 

210+ out of 349 innings..

386 out of 351 innings ( hitman )

Different era, look at the size of bats (lesser weight ones have 3 times the edge thickness these days, mishits clear the ropes, top edge 6 etc)....boundaries weren't pulled in those days. Many other factors like diff in fielding restrictions, bouncer rule, red ball in ODIs, low scoring matches which made hitting 6s difficult and also unnecessary those days. Two new balls also helps modern LOI batsmen because more difficult to clear soft balls over ropes. Tell me how many names you can find from that era. 

Edited October 19, 2019 by Gollum

[maniac]

12 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Different era, look at the size of bats (lesser weight ones have 3 times the edge thickness these days, mishits clear the ropes, top edge 6 etc)....boundaries weren't pulled in those days. Many other factors like diff in fielding restrictions, bouncer rule, red ball in ODIs, low scoring matches which made hitting 6s difficult and also unnecessary those days. Two new balls also helps modern LOI batsmen because more difficult to clear soft balls over ropes. Tell me how many names you can find from that era. 

Never seen Rohit do either of those. Cleanest hitter of the ball. I don't like romanticizing the past, Sure Viv was a trend setter but there is no guarantee that he would withstand today's generation just like there is no guarantee that Rohit would have flopped in Viv's era.

Edited October 19, 2019 by maniac

[Gollum]

19 minutes ago, maniac said:

Never seen Rohit do either of those. Cleanest hitter of the ball. I don't like romanticizing the past, Sure Viv was a trend setter but there is no guarantee that he would withstand today's generation just like there is no guarantee that Rohit would have flopped in Viv's era.

Even I don't like to romanticize the past but when some of them stand apart from the crowd like Don in tests and Viv in ODIs, I tend to put them on a higher pedestal. Look at the list you posted, after Viv (debut in 74) you have the 90s generation of Sachin, Sanath, Lara...still King Viv's 6s/innings ratio is better than over 50% of those names, maybe much more. 

 

Rohit has plenty of 6s from mishits and top edges, every batsman of this generation has them in abundance. During Viv's time mishits would barely cross the inner ring of fielders. Same like tennis, today's tennis players seem to generate such easy power and top spin, ask them to do the same with the wooden racquets of Borg's generation. See that Barry Richards photo for comparison. 

 

Another important thing is intent, in today's era of high scores in ODIs/T20s it is imperative for the batters to proactively go for maximums, train to hit 6s.....no such compulsion in the 70s and 80s when run scoring wasn't at such a frenzied pace...in spite of that Viv set a standard which no one else could come near. 

Edited October 19, 2019 by Gollum

[Gollum]

@maniac @velu I am sure you'll agree Kapil was one of the cleanest hitters of the ball, he also came at a position in ODIs (almost always after Bewda's inevitable chudaap) where he had to play at a high tempo. Plus a ballsy batsman never afraid to clear the ropes, like his 4 consecutive 6s of Hemmings to avoid follow on.

 

His numbers: 61 6s out of 131 tests and 67 in 225 ODIs....128/356 

Rahane has 28 in 60 tests and 33 in 90 ODIs....61/150 , if you add T20s it favors modern era batsmen more cos in general 6s/innings in that format is high.

 

Hope you get the picture. 

 

PS: Course you have to see the number of innings but I estimate Rahane is still higher than Kapil, too lazy to calculate this late at night, check and see if you feel like.

Edited October 19, 2019 by Gollum

[sandeep]

2 hours ago, maniac said:

I don't like romanticizing the past,

but you sure do like romancing the brohit.  You need to post the obligatory "no homo" disclaimer in some of your posts before you go ga-ga over "hitman".  

[Deleted_User_1]

4 hours ago, Gollum said:

Even I don't like to romanticize the past but when some of them stand apart from the crowd like Don in tests and Viv in ODIs, I tend to put them on a higher pedestal. Look at the list you posted, after Viv (debut in 74) you have the 90s generation of Sachin, Sanath, Lara...still King Viv's 6s/innings ratio is better than over 50% of those names, maybe much more. 

 

Rohit has plenty of 6s from mishits and top edges, every batsman of this generation has them in abundance. During Viv's time mishits would barely cross the inner ring of fielders. Same like tennis, today's tennis players seem to generate such easy power and top spin, ask them to do the same with the wooden racquets of Borg's generation. See that Barry Richards photo for comparison. 

 

Another important thing is intent, in today's era of high scores in ODIs/T20s it is imperative for the batters to proactively go for maximums, train to hit 6s.....no such compulsion in the 70s and 80s when run scoring wasn't at such a frenzied pace...in spite of that Viv set a standard which no one else could come near. 

The thing that stands out about Viv (and lucky to have seen him live at Edens) is the non-chalant way he used to walk out sans a helmet and beat the crap out of the bowlers. Even in the 80s, when he had the chance to wear a head protection, he said nah ... not my style biatches.  True that he did not face the WI quicks (he faced some of them in county cricket; yep those were the days where playing county cricket was coveted), but he faced plenty from Lillee, Thommo, Pascoe, etc ... and some of the Pak and English quicks in the 70s and early-mid 80s were not trundlers either. Despite the lack of helmet, he did not take the hook and pull out of his artillery. The most balls I have seen in a modern day batsman.

 

Even a batsman like Sunny who I adored went from no helmet to a skull cap in the 80s, but he did take the hook and pull out of his repertoire in the 70s not necessarily to mitigate injury risk, but to minimize getting out (after all hook is a higher risk shot). We know now the skull cap was more to give him comfort than anything else. That sh$t would not have mattered if the ball hit the top of his skull like it happens frequently with our desi batsmen when they take the eye off the ball. The helmet is now a part and parcel of the game, but sometime it conditions the batsman not to watch the ball all the time.