Five players who never hit a six in their ODI careers

Before the times of T20I cricket, it was in ODI cricket where Chris Gayle scored runs in sixes like it was his bread and butter. While Gayle has scored over 10,480 runs in the fifty-over format, 1986 of them (331 sixes) have come in sixes. On the other hand, former Indian skipper MS Dhoni has hit around 229 sixes on his way to scoring 10,773 runs. 

However, there are several cricketers whose shots did not cross the boundary line on the full even once. While it is pertinent to note that some famous ODI bowlers, such as Glenn McGrath and James Anderson, have not hit a single six, it is easy to miss them, because they are bowlers. But, apart from them, there are batsmen, too, who did not hit a single six despite piling runs on the board. 

Callum Ferguson 

One of Australia’s talented prodigies, Callum Ferguson was expected to make himself a big name on the International circuit. The right-hander from North Adelaide made his debut at the age of 25, in the ODI series against New Zealand at home. On debut, a then 25-year-old Ferguson was unfortunate to have just faced six deliveries, but post that, the South Australian batsman scored over 663 runs for the national team at an average of 41.43, which is highly impressive. On top of that, he did score over five fifties, including a match-winning 71 against England in the 2009 series. 

Unfortunately, throughout his ODI career, one segment where he lagged behind was in the six-hitting department, with the middle-order batsman unable to clear the fence even once. To add to that, in his T20I career, too, Ferguson failed to hit a single six. 

Dion Ebrahim

The 39-year-old Dion Ebrahim was part of the Zimbabwean dynasty during one of the more successful times in the country’s cricketing history. While he did play 82 games for the national team, there was no instance where he, just like Ferguson, cleared the boundary with ease. But, despite that, he scored over 1443 runs at a paltry average of 20.61, with his stockpile coming in the longest format. 

His strike-rate, likewise, did not do him any favour, on the north-side of 50s, which even for the early part of this decade was a lacklustre number. However, he did score the odd boundary for his country every now and then and even ended up scoring an ODI century.  The 104-boundary man ended his career without hitting a single six. 

Manoj Prabhakar

The all-rounder from Ghaziabad was a regular feature of the Indian squad in the early 90s. His bowling was arguably his strongest front in the era, with him picking 157 wickets in ODIs, at an impressive average of 28.87. However, he did have ample appearances for the national team with the bat, 98 to be precise. During the 98 innings that he batted, the right-hander scored over 1858 runs in the Indian colours, at an average of 24.12, which is again not to bad for someone who batted a lot at No.8 and No.9. 

One thing that was lacking from his end, though, was the big-hitting ability; the six-hitting power. Throughout his ODI career, the right-hander never hit a single six, despite having faced over 3083 balls. On the contrary, he did hit four sixes in the longest format.

Sir Geoffrey Boycott

Sir Geoffrey Boycott, one of England’s heroic figures, too, is on the unimpressive list of having not scored a single six during his career. While most of his appearances did come in the longest format, the legendary English cricketer did play 36 ODIs, where he batted 34 times. In terms of pure numbers, the right-hander piled over 1082 runs, averaging 36.06, which is exceedingly crazy in the era that he belonged to.

However, he simply did not have it in him to hit sixes. But staggeringly, despite not hitting a single six, Boycott did hit 84 fours in his ODI career.

Thilan Samaraweera

The Sri Lankan, who was part of Sri Lanka’s crazy run in the 2011 Cricket World Cup, is the last man on the list, thanks to his slow-scoring rate. In the 42 ODI innings that he held the willow in his hand, the right-handed batsman scored 862 runs on board, with the runs coming at an average of just 27.80. His strike-rate is not far behind in terms of being worse, with it reading 69.29. However, despite the poor stats overall, he did score two hundreds in coloured clothing and even featured in the final against India in the 2011 World Cup. 

If there was one thing that he could not do during his time in the 50-over format, it was clearing the fence. Never in his ODI career did Samaraweera clear the boundary, not even once, in contrast to the seven times he did in his Test career. However, interestingly, the right-hander hit 13 sixes in total in T20 cricket, prompting everyone to almost give a stare filled with surprise. A technically astute player, Samaraweera never lit the stage with his glorious stroke-making abilities, reducing himself to just numbers.