Rohit Sharma looked to provide India with a rollicking start in the Champions Trophy 2025 clash against New Zealand at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai. Rohit has equalled a historic record of Chris Gayle after his brief cameo of 15 against the Kiwis.
India captain Rohit Sharma was looking to launch himself just when he was dismissed for 15 in the Champions Trophy clash against New Zealand in the group stage at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, March 2.
Rohit, now known for providing blistering starts to the team, was dismissed by Matt Henry for a 17-ball 15 after slamming a four and a six in his short stay after India were asked to bat first by the Kiwis.
Despite falling early, Rohit has now equaled a historical record of West Indies icon Chris Gayle. His lone six off Matt Henry in the clash against New Zealand has put the Indian captain on level with Gayle for most maximums in ICC ODI events, with 64 sixes each to their names.
They lead the competition by a handsome margin, with Glenn Maxwell being a distant third with 48 sixes, followed by David Miller in fourth with 45 maximums.
Players with most sixes in ICC ODI events:
1 – Rohit Sharma: 64 sixes in 41 matches
2 – Chris Gayle: 64 sixes in 52 matches
3 – Glenn Maxwell: 48 sixes in 34 matches
4 – David Miller: 45 sixes in 33 matches
5 – Sourav Ganguly: 42 sixes in 34 matches
Rohit is also closing in on the world record for most sixes in ODI cricket. He currently has 340 sixes to his name and is only behind Shahid Afridi on this list. Afridi is still 11 ahead of Rohit with 351 maximums to his name.
Coming to the match, India were asked to bat first after New Zealand had won the toss with the pitch looking slow. “We’ll have a bowl first, looks like a good wicket. Want to put some pressure early and hopefully it skids on well later. We still want to win, we know we are going to be in Lahore later but first task is to do a job here, and challenge ourselves in different conditions. Daryl Mitchell comes in, Conway misses this one,” New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner had said at the toss.
India lost the toss for the 13th time in a row in ODI cricket with Rohit being on the wrong end on 10 of those occasions. “Was anyway looking to bat first, wanted to see what we could do upfront and then challenge our bowlers since we chased on both games. Approach will be very similar to the previous games, just trying to do the same things. One change for us – Harshit has been rested, Varun is playing for us. It is all about bowling in partnerships, in both games we have combined to pick 19 wickets. Our spinners have restricted them well and then the seamers have got the wickets,” Rohit said at the toss.
