The Game of Sixers
Ketaki Deshpande
Batch of 23-27
Sixes hold a climacteric part in cricket. They certainly can make or break a match. Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s winning sixer in the 2011 World Cup is a classic example. This made me wonder if there were players who had hit 6 sixes in an over, and it turns out there are!
Hitting 6 sixes in an over is quite an incredible feat to achieve. It’s like scoring a double hat trick in football. Here are the players who etched their names in the pages of history by achieving this phenomenal success. So here we go!
Sir Garfield Sobers: First Player to hit six sixes in an over
Garfield Sobers, the legendary West Indies cricketer renowned for his exceptional talent and composure, etched his name in cricket history by becoming the first player ever to hit six sixes in an over. This iconic moment occurred during a County Championship match for Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan on August 31, 1968, at St. Helen’s. Sobers faced Glamorgan’s unfortunate bowler Malcolm Nash, capitalising on the slow pace of Nash’s deliveries and the lack of turn on the pitch. With relentless aggression, Sobers smashed five consecutive sixes off the first five balls before being caught on the boundary. However, a twist ensued as Glamorgan fielder Roger Davis inadvertently carried the ball over the rope, resulting in six sixes in the over, adding drama to an already historic moment.
Ravi Shastri enters the elite club
Seventeen years later, another cricketer joined Sobers in the exclusive club of hitting six sixes in an over. Ravi Shastri, representing Bombay (Mumbai) in the Ranji Trophy on January 19, 1985, achieved this feat against Baroda’s left-arm spinner Tilak Raj. Shastri’s explosive batting not only secured his place in cricketing history but also led him to an unbeaten 200 in just 113 minutes, marking the fastest-ever double-century in First-Class cricket.
Herschelle Gibbs hits six sixes in an over in ODI cricket
Herschelle Gibbs, the former South African batsman known for his aggressive style, made history by becoming the first player to hit six sixes in an over in international cricket. During the 2007 World Cup match against the Netherlands, Gibbs showcased his destructive prowess by dispatching bowler Van Bunge’s deliveries to the stands with remarkable ease. This feat not only secured Gibbs’ place in the record books but also solidified his reputation as a formidable force in the cricketing world.
Yuvraj Singh fires up Durban in T20 World Cup
Yuvraj Singh’s remarkable performance during the T20 World Cup added another chapter to the saga of six sixes in an over. Facing England’s Stuart Broad, Singh’s explosive batting display ignited the match, fuelled further by heated exchanges between the Indian and English players, particularly Andrew Flintoff. Singh’s achievement not only secured victory for India but also ensured their dominance in cricketing contests against England. His record of hitting six sixes off a pace bowler remained unbroken for almost 14 years until USA’s Jaskaran Malhotra replicated the feat in 2021, highlighting the enduring impact of Singh’s extraordinary innings.
The bowlers that these batsmen were playing against were not bad players. Also, the batsmen were not the best players of all time. Lastly, these were just passing extraordinary moments, the things that really matter are consistency, persistence, and hard work.