Stats: Chris Gayle equals Shahid Afridi's sixes record in international cricket

Chris Gayle’s exploits in International cricket might look small given his dominance in the overseas T20 league in the last 7-8 years where he emerged as the best batsman in the shortest format. Gayle, known for his big hitting and effortlessly clearing the ropes, has a few records for hitting sixes in International cricket. The left-hander hasn’t been a regular feature in the Windies team since the completion of the 2011 World Cup.

Gayle has featured in only 104 matches across all formats in the last seven years for his country and smashed 198 maximums in this span in only 111 innings. From his debut in 1999 to 2011, Gayle hit 278 sixes in 412 innings he played in 339 international games. This six-hitting rate helped him equal Shahid Afridi’s record for most number of sixes by a player in International cricket. Afridi’s 476 sixes looked like an unbreakable record as no one among the current players was even close.

Gayle’s International career seemed to have just cut short when he featured in only six international matches that too in the 2016 WT20 between April 2015 and June 2017. However, his return in Windies colours will help him bag another record on his name. The Jamaican hit as many as five sixes during his 66-ball 73 in the final game of the 3-match ODI series against Bangladesh at home. His innings couldn’t help his team’s cause as they ended 18 runs short of Bangladesh’s total and lost yet another ODI series.

Gayle can become the proud holder of the record for hitting the most sixes in International cricket as early as August 1st, as he is part of the 3-match T20I series against Bangladesh. Among the current players, Rohit Sharma and Martin Guptill have the best chance to finish their International careers with 500 sixes, a barrier yet to be broken. Rohit is the genuine contender among the lot as he has hit 248 out of his 291 sixes thus far in the last five years. Rohit smacked those 248 sixes in just 188 innings across 171 matches since the start of 2013.

Most number of sixes by a player in International cricket:

(Stats as on July 29, 2018)

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