India vs England 2021: Rohit Sharma Becomes First Player To Hit 200 International Sixes In India

On Saturday, Rohit Sharma smashed his 7th Test ton while batting against England in the ongoing second Test of the series at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

En route to his hundred – his first Test ton since October 2019 having not played a single Test in 2020 due to injuries –  Rohit Sharma also struck his 200th international six in India.

Before reaching the hundred run mark in India’s first innings, the opener has hit two maximums – one each of Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali – as he took his tally of sixes to 200 in India. The second in the list of most sixes in India is former captain, MS Dhoni with 186 sixes followed by Yuvraj Singh who has struck 113 sixes in his home country.

The 33-year-old is also the leading Indian batsman in terms of sixes in international cricket – Rohit with 428 half-dozens is miles ahead of the next best MS Dhoni with 352 international sixes. Overall, the opener is behind only West Indian Chris Gayle (534) and former Pakistan batsman, Shahid Afridi (476) in accordance with international sixes.

Rohit Sharma silences the critics with a thumping century

That Rohit Sharma had scored 100 runs of India’s total of 147 at that point reflects not only on the dominance by the right-hander but also that the pitch is much difficult to bat than it was on Day 1 of the previous Test match.

He was coming into this Test with heavy scrutiny after scores of 6 and 12 in the first Test. However, Rohit couldn’t have timed his ton at a better time – India already trailing in the series, a World Test Championship final spot on the line, skipper Virat Kohli was dismissed for a duck – and he did it in style.

Rohit Sharma might have taken a leaf out of Joe Root’s book of sweeping having watched the England skipper go down and produce sweep after sweep of all different kinds in the first Test. The Indian opener as well, on Saturday, unleashed a series of sweep shots on the English spinners in addition to timing ball to the boundary regularly off the pacers.

Rohit was finally dismissed for 161 runs from 232 balls in looking to sweep one too many off Jack Leach – but it was his live-by-the-sword die-by-the-sword approach that got the team out of a hole from 86/3.

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