Indian national cricket team captain and explosive opener Rohit Sharma surpassed the South African national cricket team with great batsman AB de Villiers to set the record for most ODI sixes in a calendar year.

India captain Rohit Sharma continued his record-breaking streak in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 by registering the most sixes by a batter in ODIs in a calendar year. The 36-year-old achieved the feat in the 45th match of the tournament against Netherlands on Sunday, November 12, at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

The opening batsman reached the milestone in the seventh over of the innings when he hit Colin Ackerman down the ground for a straight six. With his shot, Sharma left legendary South African batsman AB de Villiers, who hit 58 sixes in 2015, behind him.

Rohit Sharma was quick to set off the fireworks against the Dutch on the auspicious occasion of Diwali. He brought out an aggressive avatar and helped India get off to a great start. The attacking brand of cricket in India's opening games helped the team score 50 runs in 6 overs and 91 runs in 10 overs. This was the highest first powerplay total conceded by the Netherlands in the current edition of the World Cup.

Going into the game, Rohit Sharma had 58 ODI sixes to his name in 2023 and he needed just one more to surpass AB de Villiers' record.

The Indian captain did this when he smashed Colin Ackermann for a beautiful 92m six on the fourth ball of the 7th over. He achieved a mammoth maximum over the long-on at a speed of 88.7 km/h.

Rohit Sharma now has 59 ODI sixes in a calendar year, the highest number by any batsman in the history of the game. He also broke Eoin Morgan's legendary record for most sixes by a captain in a single edition of the World Cup as he now has 23 maximum shots to his name. The Indian captain has also scored 14,000 international runs as an opener.

Most sixes in a calendar year In ODI Cricket

• 59* – Rohit Sharma in 2023
• 58 – AB de Villiers in 2015
• 56 – Chris Gayle in 2019
• 48 – Shahid Afridi in 2002
• 47 – Md. Waseem in 2023
• Most sixes by a captain in a single WC
• 23* – Rohit Sharma in 2023*
• 22 – Eoin Morgan in 2019
• 21 – AB de Villiers in 2015
• 18 – Aaron Finch in 2019
• 17 – B McCullum in 2015