“It’s raining sixes” is a phrase often heard in T20 cricket when the batters are going gung-ho against the opposition bowlers, providing entertainment to the fans in the stadium and at home alike.
However, some batter didn’t find the idea of muscling the ball over the fence amusing; or they just couldn’t do it at times.
Here are 5 established international batsmen who didn’t hit a single six in their T20I career:
Ambati Rayudu
Ambati Rayudu was once an established batsman in India’s ODI side. He featured in 55 ODIs, averaging 47, until being dropped surprisingly ahead of the 2019 World Cup.
He was also a key member of the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings franchise in the IPL. However, Rayudu couldn’t get his T20I career on the track. He played in 6 T20I matches between 2014 and 2016, in which he managed just 42 runs at a strike rate of 84. In those 6 matches, Rayudu hit only 5 fours and not a single six.
Stephen Fleming
Now a highly successful CSK coach, former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming though couldn’t hack T20 batting in the early years. He batted 5 times in T20 internationals scoring 110 runs, and couldn’t send the ball over the fence even once in those outings. In his 10 IPL games as well, Fleming hit just 3 sixes.
Henry Nicholls
New Zealand’s Test and ODI batting mainstay, Henry Nicholls isn’t the most famed of T20 batters. Nicholls has in fact played 10 T20Is between 2016 and 2021, recording only 100 runs with the highest score of 36*. He has stroked 9 fours in those 10 matches and failed to smash a single maximum.
Imam-ul-Haq
It is surprising that even a modern-day batsman in Pakistan’s Imam-ul-Haq, an opener, hasn’t managed a single six in his T20I career – although a short one that of 2 T20Is that he played in 2019. He scored 21 runs in those two innings at a strike rate of 84. Imam has indeed smacked only 37 sixes in 78 T20 matches.
Andrew Strauss
The man who led England to the number 1 Test ranking, Andrew Strauss, had his own struggles to get going in T20 cricket. In 4 T20Is he batted in, spread across four years from 2005 to 2009, Strauss scored 73 runs at a strike rate of 114. The left-hander creamed 9 fours but couldn’t hit a single six in T20Is. In 28 T20 matches as well, he managed just 3 sixes.
