7 players who have hit six sixes in a row – but not necessarily in the same over
Six hitting is huge in swinging the momentum of cricket matches, but going big involves a certain amount of risk to holing out to waiting vultures in the field.
Clearing the boundary rope in one clean strike is difficult, but doing the feat in five or even six consecutive deliveries is almost beyond belief.
Across eras and in varied formats of the game, a select few have smashed a large number of consecutive sixes over a multitude of deliveries.
The pick of the bunch has been Riyan Parag, who has become the first batter in the history of the Indian Premier League to bully six consecutive deliveries for six runs in the competition.
Let’s take a look at seven players who have cleared the rope ball after ball.
7. Chris Gayle
The Universe Boss was uncharacteristically subdued early in his innings for Royal Challengers Bangalore, just over a run a ball at 41 from 36 deliveries, with the required run rate only climbing against the Pune Warriors.
But on came poor Rahul Sharma to bowl with the leg spinner, dispatched for five consecutive sixes as Chris Gayle bundled his bowling all around the park to set up an RCB win.
6. Kieron Pollard
It was looking too tall a task for the Mumbai Indians who needed something special to chase their remaining 63 needed from 24 balls.
But up stepped the West Indies all-rounder who finished the first over of the remaining four with three consecutive maximums.
And this assault wasn’t enough for Pollard who went on to smoke two more sixes and a further crowd finder off a no ball in a truly remarkable comeback victory for the franchise.
5. Rinku Singh
Kolkata Knight Riders faced a tall task needing 29 runs to win from the final over in a 2023 IPL contest.
What followed was arguably the greatest game winning performance in the history of cricket as Rinku Singh smoked the final five deliveries of the match for six to secure a miracle victory for KKR in a feat that will likely never be seen again.
4. Sir Garfield Sobers
The legendary West Indian batter was the first man to achieve the ultimate over with bat in hand.
Playing for Nottinghamshire in a County fixture, Sobers took the offensive to the left arm spin of Malcolm Nash, for whom his worst nightmare came next.
Sobers launched six almighty heaves of the red ball in six consecutive deliveries to claim 36 runs from the over – that must’ve upped the run rate.
3. Ravi Shastri
17 years after Sobers’ remarkable achievement, India all-rounder Shastri matched it at the famous Wankhede Stadium during a Ranji Trophy match between Bombay and Baroda in 1985.
Also targeting left-arm spin, he sent all six deliveries into the rafters in front of an elated Bombay crowd.
2. Ross Whiteley
The English, big-hitting all-rounder stunned Yorkshire’s Headingley crowd as he smashed six sixes in a row off the bowling of Karl Carver to well and truly spoil his economy that day.
The Worcestershire batter, now representing Hampshire, is renowned for his moments of brute force and brilliance, exclusively in the shorter forms of the game.
1. Riyan Parag
The Rajasthan Royals were struggling at 102 for 5 before Parag lit up Eden Gardens with a sequence of utter brilliance.
Parag started his onslaught with three straight sixes off the bowling of the atypically economic Moeen Ali before continuing his rampage with three more at the expense of Varun Chakravarthy.
His heroics weren’t enough to secure victory, with RR coming up just one run short.