New Delhi [India], October 29 (ANI): The Indian six-hitting intent in T20I cricket stands at an all-time high, with a new generation of ultra-aggressive batters upping the ante to make the back-to-back champions one of the deadliest units in world cricket.
The three-time T20I champions secured the series in New Zealand, currently leading 3-0 in the five-match series under Shreyas Iyer's captaincy, with the fourth T20I set for Auckland on Friday.
As per Cricinfo, India's T20I strike rate in 2021 was 130.2, with a six coming every 20.5 balls. In 2022, which was Suryakumar Yadav's peak (1,164 runs), India's strike rate rose to 144.6, with a six coming every 15.4 balls.
After India's 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal ouster, which saw England thrashing them by 10 wickets, India's T20I strike rate went up to 145.1 in 2023, with a six coming every 13.4 overs.
In 2024, which saw India end their trophy drought with a T20 World Cup triumph under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, India's T20 SR rose to 150.8, with a six every 12.2 balls.
In 2025, India's T20I SR dipped back to 144.8, with a six every 14.4 balls.
However, this year, India's six-hitting has been incredible, with a six every 10.7 balls and the strike rate at an all-time high of 165.7.
During home T20Is against West Indies before this T20I series against Kiwis, India became just the second T20I team to reach the landmark of 2,000 T20I sixes. Now, during this series, India (2,052 sixes in 301 T20Is) surpassed West Indies (2,026 in 260 T20Is) to become the leading six-hitting team in T20Is.
Squads:
New Zealand Squad: Tim Seifert(w), Finn Allen, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Bevon Jacobs, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner(c), Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Jacob Duffy, Matthew Fisher, Nathan Smith, Blair Tickner, Josh Clarkson, Devon Conway
India Squad: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kuldeep Yadav, Shivam Dube, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kumar Kushagra, Mayank Yadav. (ANI)
Lesser balls per six, more hard-hitting intent: Evolution of Indian T20I batting in 2020s
