'After fifth six only one person crossed my mind - Yuvraj Singh': Ruturaj Gaikwad on his 7 sixes in an over

Ruturaj Gaikwad joined India legend Yuvraj Singh in the exclusive club of cricketers who have hit six sixes in a single over. The Maharashtra batter achieved the feat during their Vijay Hazare Trophy quarter-final against Uttar Pradesh on 28 November at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium.

However, Ruturaj’s innings was quite special as the right-handed batter managed to send the ball over the boundary line as many as seven times thanks to a no-ball bowled by left-arm spinner Shiva Singh. Ruturaj registered 43 runs in the over.

With the exceptional batting performance, Gaikwad also etched his name in the history of the domestic circuit as it also turned out to be the joint-most expensive over of List A cricket. The Maharashtra skipper admitted that it was a dream for him to hit six sixes in an over since he watched Yuvraj Singh do the same against English pacer Stuart Broad, 15 years ago, during the 2007 T20 World Cup at Durban’s Kingsmead.

Coming out of the match, Ruturaj revealed that only Yuvraj Singh’s name came to his mind after the fifth maximum and it sparked his childhood dream of reaching the milestone.

“When I was quite young, I saw him hit six sixes in a row during a World Cup game. Therefore, it’s obvious that I wanted to join him, hence why I chose 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,” the 25-year-old batter explained. “It’s a great pleasure, a great feeling to be alongside him (Yuvraj),” Ruturaj added.