Rohit Sharma etched his name into the record books after he became the first cricketer to hit 50 sixes in the ICC ODI World Cup history. Popularly known as "Hitman" for his six-hitting acumen, Rohit Sharma went all guns blazing against the New Zealand cricket team in the first semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. 

Rohit SharmaIndian captain won the toss and opted to bat first. The right-handed batter scored runs at a rate of knots and mounted immense pressure on the New Zealand bowlers inside the powerplay overs as he looked literally unstoppable before he fell prey to Tim Southee's slower delivery. 

Rohit Sharma made his way back to the dressing room after scoring 47 off 29 balls including 4 fours and 4 sixes at a strike rate of 162.07. In the process, he edged past Chris Gayle's record for the most sixes scored in Cricket World Cups (49). Ahead of the game against New Zealand, Rohit Sharma had hit 47 sixes.

The Indian captain hammered as many as 4 sixes in the game against New Zealand. He extended his tally to 51 sixes. Australia's Glenn Maxwell hit 43 sixes in Cricket World Cups whereas AB de Villiers has hit 37 sixes in ODI World Cups and David Warner has also hit 37 sixes in ODI World Cups.

51- Rohit Sharma
49- Chris Gayle
43- Glenn Maxwell
37- AB de Villiers
37- David Warner

Rohit Sharma drew plaudits for approaching the game with a lot of intent and an attacking mindset. After winning the toss, he said, "We are gonna bat first. Looks like a good pitch. Looks like on the slower side. Whatever we do, we need to do well. I think it was back in 2019 when we played the semis. NZ is one of the most consistent sides. A very important day. Constantly, talking about how important it is to turn up on that day. It is about controlling the controllables. Same team."

Teams:

New Zealand (Playing XI): Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson(c), Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham(w), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Mark Chapman, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj