Courtesy: BCCI/X
Rohit Sharma, the Indian Test and ODI captain, created a unique record of smashing most sixes for a batter in a Test match against South Africa during October, 2019, at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam. During this phase of his cricket career, Rohit Sharma, who had established himself as a great performer in the limited overs cricket, was staring down the barrel as far as his Test career was concerned, playing his first match in the longest format after a wait of over nine months.
With the Indian team management giving Rohit Sharma the role of opening the innings in Test format in a three-match Test series against South Africa, the onus was on the right-handed batters to turn around his long format career. In the first Test in Visakhapatnam, the Nagpur-born cricketer scored a century on his return to the Indian cricket team, ending up with 176 off 244 with 23 fours and six maximums, to help India reach 502/7 declared in their first innings after an opening stand of 317 runs with Mayank Agarwal, who had notched up a double hundred.
India smashed 37 sixes against South Africa, the most in a Test match for any team
After bundling out South Africa in their first innings for 431 runs, with Ravichandran Ashwin taking a seven-wicket haul, the Indian cricket team walked out to bat, aiming to set-up a big target for the visitors. Rohit Sharma managed to score his second hundred of the Test match, putting together 127 off 149 with 10 fours and seven maximums, to ensure that India declared their second innings for 323/4, to pose an imposing target of 395 runs in the fourth innings for South Africa to chase down.
Apart from becoming the first batter to hit 13 sixes in a Test match, to beat the previous record from Wasim Akram of 12 sixes, Rohit Sharma also played a pivotal role in ensuring that India hit 37 sixes against South Africa, the most sixes in a Test match for any team in the world. Moreover, in the run chase, India bundled out South Africa for 191 runs, to win by 203 runs with Mohammed Shami picking up a five-wicket haul in the fourth innings at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium.
