Most Sixes by a Player in ODI Cricket : Top 10 List

When it comes to six-hitting in ODI cricket, Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi tops the charts with 351 maximums in his illustrious career. Only Chris Gayle and Rohit Sharma have hit more than 300 sixes in ODI cricket. Here are the top 10 players with the most sixes in ODI cricket history.

Shahid Afridi

Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi has hit the most sixes in ODI cricket with 351 hits out of the park. Making his debut in 1996 as a teenage sensation, Afridi made his intentions for world cricket clear with a stellar century in his first-ever ODI innings. Playing against Sri Lanka, Afridi smashed 11 sixes scoring 102 in 40 balls. In 2002, Afridi smashed an unbeaten 108 off 92 balls hitting 8 sixes while opening the innings against New Zealand. Three years later Afridi had another six-hitting spectacle where he smashed 9 hits out of the park in another innings of 102 in 46 balls, this time against the arch-rivals India at Kanpur.

Chris Gayle

The Universe Boss Chris Gayle takes the 2nd position in the list of cricketers with the most sixes in ODI cricket. In his 301-match-long ODI career spanning from 1999 to 2019, Gayle smashed 331 maximums scoring over 10000 runs in the format for West Indies. He also featured for ICC World XI hitting only 1 six for the team. In his career, Gayle hit 25 tons and 54 half centuries including a career-best knock of 215 against Zimbabwe in the 2015 World Cup. His last year playing the format turned out to be his best in terms of six-hitting as he smashed 56 sixes in 2019, his previous best year in terms of hitting sixes was 2015 when he smashed 29 sixes.

Rohit Sharma

Nicknamed Hitman for his long-hitting ability, the current India captain Rohit Sharma has hit 323 sixes in one-day internationals and also has the world record of hitting the most number of sixes across all three international formats. Having made his debut as a youngster in 2007, Rohit gradually got promoted in the batting order and after making a shift as an opener in 2013, the best came out of him. With 54 maximums in the ODI World cup, he tops the six hitting charts in the tournament’s history. With three double centuries to his name, Rohit also has the highest individual ODI score (264) to his name.

Sanath Jayasuriya

The Matara Mauler is one of the finest players to represent Sri Lanka. Hitting 270 sixes in his 445-match career, Jayasuriya started as a lower-order batter but ended his career as one of the most exciting openers in the history of the game. He scored 13430 runs in a 22-year-long career. He started opening the innings in 1993 and has hit 263 sixes in that position. He hit 30 sixes each in 1996 and 1997 with Sri Lanka winning the World Cup in the former year. His stroke-filled knock of 134 off 65 balls against Pakistan in 1996 saw him hit 11 sixes which was a world record at that time.

MS Dhoni

The former Indian World Cup and Champions Trophy-winning captain has hit 229 maximums in his successful 350-match ODI career spanning 15 years. His unorthodox batting and keeping skills stood out on the field. A strong bottom hand helped him play the helicopter shot to smash even the perfectly executed Yorkers out of the boundary rope. One of such strokes finished the 2011 World Cup final game in India’s favour where he scored 91 runs and was the player of the final. Playing only 3 games in 2004, Dhoni made the middle order position his own in 2005 smashing 34 sixes and scoring 895 runs with his highest score of 183 not out coming in the same year.

Eoin Morgan

The dual international and World Cup-winning captain for England has hit 220 sixes in his one-day international career. Morgan made his debut for Ireland in 2006 and was picked by England in 2009. For the latter side, he featured in 225 ODIs scoring 6957 runs with 13 hundreds, 42 fifties and 202 sixes. 2019 was his best year as far as long hitting is concerned as he cleared the fence on 41 occasions. His innings of 148 versus Afghanistan in the World Cup that year saw him hit 17 sixes, a World record for most sixes in an ODI innings.

AB de Villiers

Known as Mr. 360° for his ability to play in all directions of the ground and beyond, de Villiers has hit 204 sixes playing for South Africa and Africa XI in 228 ODI matches. De Villiers made his debut in 2005 and rose through the ranks to lead the Proteas side across all three formats. He hit 200 sixes for South Africa and 4 for Africa XI finishing his career with 9577 runs at an average of 53.5. He was also the fastest batter to score 7000, 8000 and 9000 ODI runs but the records were later overhauled. His 16 sixes against West Indies in the world record knock of 149 in 44 balls is only 2nd to Morgan’s record of most sixes in an innings. That knock is also the fastest century in the format by any batter.

Brendon McCullum

The former Kiwi wicketkeeper batter was an all-time great who could bat at any position in all formats of the game scoring at a brisk pace. Featuring in 260 ODIs for New Zealand in his 14-year-old career, McCullum scored 6083 runs with 5 centuries, and 32 half-centuries and hit 200 sixes. 33 of his sixes were hit in the World Cup year of 2015 where he led the team to the finals but failed to clinch the trophy. He scored his maiden ODI hundred against Ireland hitting 10 sixes on his way to 166 off 135 deliveries.

Sachin Tendulkar

Arguably the greatest batter of all time, Sachin Tendulkar almost has every batting record to his name in both Test and ODI cricket. He has scored the most number of runs, and hit the most number of centuries across formats. He also became the first batter in men’s ODIs to score a double century. In his 463-match career, Tendulkar hit 195 sixes scoring 18426 runs at an average of 44.83 and strike rate of 86.23. In the 1998 triangular series, he smashed 100 runs off 89 deliveries against Australia smashing 7 sixes en route, the most sixes he has hit in an innings.