Rohit Sharma smashes Chris Gayle's world record for most sixes in international cricket

In a massive achievement, Rohit Sharma went past West Indian legend Chris Gayle to hit the most number of sixes in international cricket on Wednesday during India's 2023 World Cup encounter against Afghanistan in Delhi.

The Indian captain was 551 sixes after 452 innings before the match. He thumped two sixes in left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi's consecutive overs and followed it up with a towering 85-meter one against Naveen-ul-Haq in the ninth over to go past Gayle's 553 sixes. It came through his favorite shot - a sweetly timed pull.

Gayle reached the mark in 2021 after 551 innings, spread across 22 years. Rohit crossed him in only his 473rd innings in his 16th year in international cricket. The two explosive openers are the only ones with more than 500 sixes in the sport.

Pakistan's Shahid Afridi (476) and the New Zealand pair of Brendon McCullum (398) and Martin Guptill (383) are much behind.

After getting out for a duck in the previous match against Australia, Rohit got off to an explosive start in Delhi and reached his half-century in just 30 balls.

Australia have borne the brunt of his six-hitting ability. He hit 121 sixes against the Men in Yellow across formats. That's almost 1/4th of his overall tally. He averages more than 1.5 six/match against the Kangaroos. Next in line for total numbers are West Indies (88), Sri Lanka (78) and New Zealand (68).

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Rohit Sharma also becomes the fastest Indian to 1000 runs in men's ODI World Cups

The first six also helped him break another massive record: he went past 1,000 runs in World Cups, reaching the mark in only his 19th innings in the tournament. He leveled with David Warner to be the joint-fastest to reach the landmark and the fastest-ever Indian, beating Sachin Tendulkar's record of 20 innings.