There’s one common thing between Rohit Sharma, AB de Villiers, and Chris Gayle. What’s that?
All three of them love to hit sixes all over the ground at their will. We have seen them pepper their knocks with mighty sixes. And this wasn’t limited to one knock but rather spanned throughout the year.
So, it’s no surprise to see them dominate the list of batters who hit the most sixes in a calendar year in ODI cricket.
Most ODI Sixes by a Batter in a Calendar Year
| Player | Year | Inns | 6s | 4s | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rohit Sharma (IND) | 2023 | 26 | 67 | 131 | 1255 |
| AB de Villiers (SA) | 2015 | 18 | 58 | 91 | 1193 |
| Chris Gayle (WI) | 2019 | 15 | 56 | 55 | 753 |
| Shahid Afridi (PAK) | 2002 | 36 | 48 | 60 | 743 |
| Muhammad Waseem (UAE) | 2023 | 24 | 47 | 67 | 782 |
| Rohit Sharma (IND) | 2017 | 21 | 46 | 116 | 1293 |
| Heinrich Klaasen (SA) | 2023 | 22 | 44 | 79 | 927 |
| Mitchell Marsh (AUS) | 2023 | 20 | 43 | 96 | 858 |
| Shane Watson (AUS) | 2011 | 22 | 42 | 116 | 1139 |
| Martin Guptill (NZ) | 2015 | 32 | 42 | 162 | 1489 |
| Eoin Morgan (ENG) | 2019 | 18 | 41 | 57 | 791 |
| Shubman Gill (IND) | 2023 | 29 | 41 | 180 | 1584 |
| Sachin Tendulkar (IND) | 1998 | 33 | 40 | 188 | 1894 |
| Rohit Sharma (IND) | 2018 | 19 | 39 | 104 | 1030 |
| David Miller (SA) | 2023 | 22 | 39 | 54 | 802 |
Key Insights
2023 was a special year for Rohit Sharma. He smashed 67 sixes in 26 innings to better AB de Villiers’ 2015 record.
Rohit is the only batter to hit 40 or more sixes in two calendar years. Apart from the powerful 2023, the right-hand opener smacked 46 maximums in 2017.
Sachin Tendulkar’s 40 sixes in 1998 go together with him scoring the most runs and centuries in ODIs in a calendar year by any batter.
Chris Gayle’s 56 sixes in 2019 came in just 15 innings, which means a sixes/innings ratio of 3.73 – the highest among the others in the table.
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