Umpire Marais Erasmus was amazed by Rohit Sharma’s six-hitting skills in India’s World Cup victory against Pakistan. Hardik Pandya, a formidable hitter himself, compared Rohit’s performance to playing PlayStation rather than cricket. While Pakistan failed to hit a single six, Rohit smashed six of them, contributing to India’s dominant win.
After striking one of his massive sixes, Rohit flexed his muscles in front of a grinning Erasmus. In a video released by the team, Rohit explained to Pandya that Erasmus had asked about the secret behind his big hits and if it had anything to do with his bat. Rohit clarified that his power, not his bat, was responsible for his impressive shots.
Before the match against Pakistan, Rohit had surpassed West Indian player Chris Gayle’s record of hitting 553 sixes in international cricket. He also became the third player, after Gayle and Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi, to reach 300 sixes in one-day internationals.
Rohit attributed his aggressive batting approach in the World Cup to the superb wickets, expressing his desire to play his shots. Although he missed out on a century in the game against Pakistan, he has three double hundreds in ODIs, the most by any player, and holds the record for the highest individual score of 264 against Sri Lanka in 2014.
In the ongoing World Cup, Rohit has hit 11 sixes in three matches, placing him second behind Sri Lankan player Kusal Mendis, who has hit 14 sixes in two matches.
Former teammate Dinesh Karthik praised Rohit’s effortless shot-making, especially his pull shot, against Pakistan, describing him as having a “lazy elegance.” Karthik emphasized that if the ball is even slightly short, it will end up in the stands when Rohit is batting.
India currently leads the points table with three consecutive wins. They will face Bangladesh in their next match on Thursday in Pune.
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in Ahmedabad; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
