Maharashtra batter Ruturaj Gaikwad recalled watching India’s limited-overs great Yuvraj Singh hit six sixes in an over during the inaugural men’s T20 World Cup way back in 2007 when he was a child.
The player said Yuvraj’s legendary figure was in his mind when he himself crossed the six maximums’ mark during a Vijay Hazare Trophy quarterfinal on Monday.
Gaikwad unleashed his wrath on Uttar Pradesh left-arm spinner Shiva Singh on his way to a glorious seven sixes in a single over in Ahmedabad. The over included a no ball and was dispatched for a whopping 43 runs by the India and Maharashtra right-hander.
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Gaikwad not only became the first batter in the history of List A cricket to produce seven maximums in an over but also recorded the joint highest number of runs collected in one over in white-ball cricket history.
“To be honest, after the fifth six the only one person that crossed my mind was Yuvraj Singh. I had seen him hit six sixes in an over back then when I was very young, in the 2007 (T20) World Cup,”
the 25-year-old told BCCI.tv after his knock.
“I wanted to be alongside him and that’s why I wanted to go for the sixth one. I never thought any day, or in any dream, that I would be hitting six sixes in a row. It’s a great pleasure, a great feeling to be alongside him (Yuvraj), just match that hype which is there around six sixes in an over or seven in an over,”
he added.
The player shattered the record book, becoming the first men’s batter in the long, long history of the game to produce seven maximums in one over.
His joint record for most runs in an over was achieved previously by the New Zealand duo of Brett Hampton and Joe Carter, who combined to pick up 43 runs off an over for Northern Districts against Central Districts in a 50-overs domestic fixture back in 2018.
Gaikwad ended up smashing 220 not out off 159 deliveries in the quarterfinal encounter before following that up with another superlative 168 in the semifinal against Assam. Both knocks ending up on the winning side, Gaikwad banged hard on the door for selection in the Indian side a year prior to the 2023 World Cup on home shores.
