The new form of belligerence which has been inculcated in the Indian cricketers has not only been branded as aggressive but it has seemed downright brutal and advanced vis-à-vis what used to be the scenario a decade back.
In the modern days, a total of 350 seem to be unsafe and with the new fielding restrictions in place, the game is inclining even more towards the batsmen. The bowlers are further being shoved into a period of dark ages and barring a few, most of them are making peace with the mediocrity that is up for grabs.
Indian batsmen have shown exemplary brilliance over this prolonged period of time and from ardent stroke-players they have now shifted their focus to targeting the aerial route that has been exploited to its very core.
We will be looking at the highest number of sixes those were struck by an individual cricketer for India in a single ODI inning.
Rohit Sharma – 16 sixes
This was the Indian hitman at his very best when he took out the Australian attack with extreme prejudice. Batting first Sharma himself hammered an exquisite 209 from 158 deliveries. This special knock from him saw him smoking 16 sixes and 12 fours. This is the highest number of sixes that Sharma has struck in a single inning while India managed to amass a titanic 383 for 6. Shikhar Dhawan and MS Dhoni played crucial cameos in the end to propel India’s score that helped them to settle the series.
Rohit Sharma – 12 sixes
It was once again the Hitman producing some exuberant pyrotechnics that dismantled the Sri Lankan hopes and in an agonizing manner. Batting first, India rode on Sharma and Dhawan’s knocks to fire themselves to a blinder before Sharma took complete control of the innings. From 153 deliveries, Sharma clobbered 208 runs which saw him bludgeoning 13 fours and 12 sixes in that ODI inning. He stayed unbeaten till the end for 208 runs from 153 balls. India posted a mammoth 392 in response to which Sri Lanka could only manage 251.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni – 10 sixes
A new kid was on the block whose mane flew like a burning flame and his bat swung like a helicopter. He was none other than the numero uno, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Chasing 299 to win, Dhoni went berserk after Sri Lanka managed to remove Sachin Tendulkar early from the contest. Unfortunately, that was a blessing in disguise for India. Dhoni stomped over his counterparts and the shots that he played were nothing short of brilliant. Such was the magnificence of the strokes that even Sri Lankan fans started applauding. He managed to stay unbeaten for 183 from 145 deliveries that saw him hammering 15 fours and 10 sixes in that ODI inning. This same lad turned out to be one of the greatest captains in Indian history.
Rohit Sharma – 9 sixes
The chemistry between Rohit Sharma and sixes is one of the sweetest love stories that you can ever imagine and the ability of Sharma to convert the starts into something gigantic is what makes him such a special player. This was in the Eden Gardens that saw Sharma slicing the Sri Lankan bowlers open with a few sublime strokes. This was also the game that made the world realize that Sharma is one of the proficient pullers of the ball in the antiquity of Indian cricket. He managed to garner 264 runs and Indian posted 404 on the cards in response to which Sri Lanka drafted a paltry 251.
