Pakistan needed seven runs off the last ball to win the ODI between Pakistan and Australia in Hobart on December 10, 1992. Left-arm batsman Asif Mujtaba hit a six off Steve Waugh’s full toss. The Pakistani cricket team escaped defeat and the match was tied.
Asif Mujtaba hit a six for the first time in his ODI career after which he hit another six in his ODI career.
The interesting thing is that he did not manage to hit a single six in his Test career despite his His Test career spanned 25 matches, in which he scored 928 runs in 41 innings with the help of 8 half-centuries.
There are many batsmen amid Asif Mujtaba in international cricket who have never shown enthusiasm in hitting sixes in Tests or ODIs.
Mohammad Brothers’ Lack Of Interest In Sixes
The four brothers of the famous cricket family, Wazir Mohammad, Hanif Mohammad, Mushtaq Mohammad and Sadiq Mohammad are known as reliable batsmen.
The eldest brother, Wazir Mohammad, and the youngest brother, Sadiq Mohammad, share a common value that they have never hit a six in their Test career.
Wazir Mohammad scored 801 runs in 33 innings of 20 Test matches but Sadiq Mohammad played more than him and scored 2579 runs in 74 innings of 41 Test matches including 5 centuries and 10 half centuries.
Sadiq Mohammad says, “I never wanted to hit a six and I never tried it.” In my career, I always tried to stand on the wicket for a long time and play long innings.
When Sadiq Mohammad was asked that Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas and Asif Iqbal, who were playing with him, used to hit sixes while batting aggressively, don’t you desire to be aggressive like them.
So Sadiq Mohammad laughed in his typical way and said “no”, I use to focus on my batting.
Hanif Mohammad hit just two sixes in his Test career. He hit the first six in 1955 during a century in the Bahawalpur Test against India.
This was Hanif Mohammad’s first Test century. Coincidentally, it was also the first Test century to be made on Pakistani soil.
Hanif Mohammad’s second six was part of the 27-run innings in the 1965 Auckland Test against New Zealand.
Turner Edgar And Trott Are In The Same Boat
New Zealand’s Glenn Turner was known as the fastest batsman in his time. Glenn Turner has scored 2991 runs in 41 Tests with seven centuries and 14 half-centuries to represent his country, but his career score sheet has never seen a six.
Bruce Edgar, another New Zealand opening batsman, also avoided sixes. He scored 1958 runs in 39 Tests with the help of 3 centuries and 12 half centuries.
England batsman Jonathan Trott is at the forefront. When his Test career ended with 3835 runs in 52 matches, everyone was looking for sixes which would have been the same if he had hit. Jonathan Trott’s hand was also tight in the matter of sixes even though he hit 451 fours in Test matches.
Players With Amazing ODI Career Without Sixes
In Test cricket, if a batsman does not hit a six, there is no need to be surprised as long innings require conditions, but it is surprising that no batsman hits a six in ODIs.
It would have made sense if it was a matter of a few innings, but if a batsman’s entire ODI career passes without sixes, mountains of surprises can be broken.
England opener Jeff Boycott was a bookish but slow-batting opener for conservative English county Yorkshire. He also had the opportunity to play for his country in 36 ODIs in which he scored 1082 runs with the help of one century and nine half centuries but in his entire career he never hit a six.
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Indian all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar scored 1858 runs in 130 ODIs, including 2 centuries and 11 half-centuries, but he also never tried to get the ball out of the boundary by tightening his grip on the bat.
Sri Lankan batsman Thalan Samaraweera, who was injured in the Lahore terror attack, hit seven sixes in Test cricket but could not hit a single six in 53 ODIs despite scoring 862 runs with the help of two centuries.
Zimbabwe’s Devin Ibrahim scored 1443 runs in 82 ODIs, including a century and four half-centuries, but not a single six in his entire career.
Australian batsman Callum Ferguson played 30 ODIs in which he scored 663 runs. He had a strike rate of 85. His career included 64 fours but not a single six.
Shahid Afridi The Brand Of Sixes
If we look at Shahid Afridi in contrast to these batsmen, he managed to hit the most 351 sixes in ODIs as well as 52 sixes in Test cricket.
In fact, Shahid Afridi was such a batsman that whenever he came on the crease, the fans would get excited and even Shahid Afridi himself would start craving for sixes. On the day when their sixes were taken, Eid would be like the spectators.
