Who Hits the Most Sixes in International Cricket?

Cricket is an exhilarating game and nothing excites spectators quite like watching one of its top batsmen hit an amazing six. So what makes these masterful batters so adept at hitting sixes?

Rohit Sharma recently overtook West Indies icon Chris Gayle as the player with most sixes hit in international cricket history.

1. Joss Buttler

As shorter formats in cricket have proliferated, big-hitting batsmen have become ever more important for their skills at bat. Hitting sixes can provide spectators with a thrilling moment while altering the momentum of a match; many players have excelled at hitting them throughout their careers and amassed large totals.

Joss Buttler is an exceptional big hitter who is well known for hitting numerous sixes during international cricket matches and can clear boundary lines effortlessly. Furthermore, his power allows him to produce stunning finishes in final overs of matches.

Buttler has excelled at hitting sixes during this World Cup and stands an excellent chance of reaching the final with England. Additionally, his right-handed batsman is known to hit long sixes effortlessly and is an outstanding T20 cricket player who possesses exceptional hitting powers.

Former West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo is one of the greatest six-hitters ever witnessed in cricket history, boasting some of the longest sixes ever hit in a match and being an intimidating force whenever representing his nation. One especially memorable six was against Ryan McLaren at Johannesburg – when he flicked it perfectly out of the ground before smashing it away for six!

2. Chris Gayle

Cricket is a game of runs, and nothing gets the crowd more animated than watching an expertly executed six. Batters can score runs either by running across wickets for singles, doubles and triples or by sending balls straight over boundary lines for fours and sixes; though the former method may seem more traditional; fours and sixes offer far greater excitement!

Chris Gayle reigns supreme when it comes to sixes. The West Indies batsman holds an astounding 534 sixes across all formats in international cricket – which clearly demonstrate his dominance across all forms of the game. Additionally, Jamaican Chris also holds both most ODI hundreds and fastest hundred records, which attests to his brilliance across every form.

Gayle still has many tricks in his arsenal at 41, even as his beard becomes fuller and greyer. Gayle excels at disarming bowlers; most notably in 2014 World Cup Pool Match against India when he scored unbeaten 198!

Gayle completed his innings in only 66 balls and hit five boundaries and seven sixes – including one that traveled 116 metres into Kensington Oval stands. This one of Gayle’s longest sixes in international cricket shows why he is such an effective counter to any bowler; Rohit Sharma of India and Pakistani Shahid Afridi round off this list.

3. Shahid Afridi

Cricket has traditionally been seen as a game of finesse and technique. However, with the rise of limited overs cricket came with it a new style of hitting known as six hitting that has taken over in recent years – batsmen being seen to strike fear into bowlers with their powerful hits.

No doubt there are plenty of power hitters in cricket, but only some stand out as being among the finest six-hitters worldwide. Shahid Afridi of Pakistan currently tops this list with an astounding total of 103 Test sixes, 331 ODI sixes and 124 T20I sixes during his career.

Kieron Pollard of West India is known for his powerful hitting. In one T20I match he hit an unimaginably long six of 158 meters! A truly astounding statistic.

There are other players on the list renowned for their ability to clear fences effortlessly, like Australian Brett Lee who hit an extraordinary 143-meter six which fell right into the practice nets behind the stadium, or Martin Guptill from New Zealand who once hit an astonishing 127-meter six off South African Lonwabo Tsotsobe during a Twenty20I match and left everyone watching stunned and speechless.

4. Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma has long been one of cricket’s greatest six-hitters, second only to Chris Gayle and Shahid Afridi with 594 sixes scored during his international career. If he can score six sixes against Australia at Dharamsala this week he may become only batsman to ever score 600 sixes internationally!

Rohit has an uncanny way of hitting sixes effortlessly; his head stays still while his bat produces an elegant backlift to send the ball flying over long-on and into the stands. Furthermore, his impressive strike rate indicates how proficiently he has performed as an opener over 16 years of play.

Rohit Sharma of India became the Indian batsman with the most sixes after surpassing Chris Gayle at the 2023 ODI World Cup, amassing 573 sixes over 479 innings at one of the highest strike rates among opening batsmen.

Rohit has scored some of the longest sixes ever hit in cricket history. He famously hit Brett Lee for an unbelievable 119-meter six during a T20 World Cup semifinal against West Indies that flew so high it actually fell into one of the practice nets behind the stadium! This incredible shot left everyone stunned.

5. Brendon McCullum

Brendon McCullum of New Zealand epitomized aggressive and vicious cricket. As wicketkeeper-batsman, he could strike fear into bowling attacks with ease and lit up IPL with an explosive batting style, while showing versatility as captain of Test cricket for nearly two years.

Former Kiwi captain Martin Crowe holds the world record for most sixes hit in Test cricket with Adam Gilchrist and is fourth on the ODI list behind Shahid Afridi, Chris Gayle and Sanath Jayasuriya in terms of sixes hit. An aggressive batsman who excels on leg side field conditions he can smash balls over boundaries with ease.

As an expert six-hitter across all formats of cricket, McCullum was previously ahead of teammate and head coach Ben Stokes when it comes to hitting sixes in Test cricket – until England all-rounder Ben Stokes broke McCullum’s record during the inaugural Trans-Tasman Test against New Zealand at Mount Maunganui recently and received widespread acclaim – from Wicketkeeper-batsmen Ben Foakes himself and McCullum himself alike!

McCullum holds 23 sixes in Test cricket, 187 ODI sixes, and 173 T20I sixes – making him one of the fastest to reach 1000 test runs ever – as an inspiration for young cricketers around the globe. An opener from Dunedin who can dominate any form of the game.

6. Martin Guptill

Guptill has made his mark as a successful international cricketer since making his Black Caps debut across all formats of cricket in 2009. Since then he has gone on to become one of the finest white ball cricket players.

Auckland Aces batsman Ben Foakes has notched up impressive scores in both One Day International (ODI) cricket and T20 International cricket for New Zealand, boasting the highest run scorer for his nation in both formats – even notching 237 not out during his team’s 2015 World Cup quarter final victory against West Indies at Wellington Regional Stadium in 2015.

He became the first player ever to score a double century in a World Cup knockout match and ultimately emerged as its leading run scorer, winning both the Richard Hadlee Medal and T20 player of the year awards for his efforts during this event.

New Zealand opener James Franklin ranks fifth on the list of international cricket players with the most sixes hit during international matches; he has hit 23 sixes in Test matches, 187 in ODIs, and 173 in T20Is. Rohit Sharma leads this category, hitting 190 maximums since his T20I debut back in 2007. Ireland opener Paul Stirling made this list after hitting 124 maximums over 122 matches between 2009-2024.