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India's veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin believes Rohit Sharma's transformation into a six-hitter is remarkable as he surpassed former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi's six-hitting record, to become the batter with the most sixes in ODIs.
Rohit achieved this feat during India's first ODI against South Africa at the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi, hitting his 352nd six in the format. He overtook Afridi's 351 sixes, who held the record since 2015. Ashwin also credited India's aggressive batting approach in recent years, which has brought much success, to former captain Rohit Sharma and ex-head coach Rahul Dravid. "I think what we've seen is Rohit Sharma, both as a captain and as a transformed player. If we look at his early career statistically, in his first 30-40 ODIs, he wasn't the six-hitting powerhouse we know today. Now, to see him surpass Shahid Afridi with over 350 sixes is no small feat. Afridi was the original hitting machine for Pakistan in the white-ball game, and Rohit has overtaken that benchmark. How did he do it? In his first 40 ODIs or so, he didn't hit many sixes. But after his double century against Australia in 2013-14, his balls-per-six ratio was 27," he said. "Since becoming the white-ball captain, that ratio has dropped to 17--an incredible transformation. This is also a perfect example of how Rohit stamps his authority as a captain. He sets the tone by showing exactly what he wants from the team. The rapid evolution of India's batting in T20S and ODIs owes a lot to both Rohit and Rahul bhai (Rahul Dravid). Rahul bhai laid down the principles, and Rohit led by example, paving the way. Over time, this approach has completely transformed the way India approaches batting," Ashwin said on his YouTube Channel Ash ki Baat. The 'Ro-Ko' carnival continued from where it left off in Sydney and enthralled the Ranchi crowd, with Virat Kohli scoring his 52nd ODI ton and Rohit smashing the record for most ODI sixes. Ro-Ko's fireworks powered India to a 17-run victory over South Africa in the first ODI. Virat, along with Rohit Sharma, put up a 136-run stand for the second wicket. Sharma played a blissful innings of 57 runs off 51 balls, including five fours and three sixes. Hitman brought up his 60th ODI fifty in the 19th over of the first innings. Sharma could not convert the fifty into a hundred as he lost his wicket to Jansen in the 22nd over. With this win, India has taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series. (ANI)
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