Five Batters who never hit a six in their ODI careers

In cricket, ODI is a format which is considered to be unique by the fans. While Test cricket is all about patience and T20 cricket is all about pace, ODI is regarded as a format where both the batters and bowlers are asked to find the right combination of patience and pace. Batters in particular must be aware of when to accelerate and when to be tentative about playing the shots. The way they bat depends on the nature of the wickets, the situation in the match, the support from the other end, and so on.

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For a batter to accelerate, sixes play a key role. By applying power or by timing the ball with perfection, the batters can manage to fetch the maximum runs in a single ball. It helps the team and the batter hugely. The team's run rate would benefit from such shots. The batters can get to big scores in a faster way. However, there is a risk factor involved in playing such shots. Hence, batters also think twice or thrice before playing such shots. Some of them do not even hit a six.

Batters who are happy to rotate the strike and hit boundaries do not need to hit sixes. They would be happy to bat without taking risks. Here are the 5 batters who never hit a six in their ODI careers.

5. Thilan Samaraweera

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Thilan Samaraweera was a very good batter for Sri Lanka. In the 2000s, the lower middle order was a mainstay in the Sri Lankan batting. Particularly in Test cricket, the batter was highly underrated and often went under the radar. His defensive technique was very good which made him an accomplished batter in the longest format of the game. He was a hugely talented batter and made the most of it.

However, Thilan could not make it big in the ODIs. The right-handed batter did not have enough shots in his armoury. The fact that there were many other batters who were a bit more skilful in the format meant that he did not get many chances to prove himself in ODIs. The way he batted in ODIs, Sri Lanka could not help but think of better options. In his career spanning 53 matches, Thilan scored 862 runs, which included 76 fours and not a single six.

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4. Callum Ferguson

Callum Ferguson was one of those talents who ended up not playing much for Australia due to the immense talent present in the team. When he started his career in the 2000s, Australia had a world-class team. They were the world champions two times in a row and won the Champions Trophy 2 times in a row. Basically, Australia conquered the world in ODIs with the enormous talent they had. Breaking into such a team was the toughest feat in cricket.

Ferguson had very good numbers in First-class cricket and List-A cricket for Australia. Ferguson got to play for Australia in just one Test match. in ODIs though, he got better opportunities, although not to a significant extent. Callum played 30 ODIs for Australia. In as many matches, Callum scored 663 runs at a good average of 41.43, at a good batting SR of 85.32. He hit 64 boundaries in his career. None of them were sixes.

3. Geoffrey Boycott 

Geoffrey Boycott was a terrific batter in Test cricket. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, the batter from England was considered the best opener of his time along with Sunil Gavaskar. The star batter had a compact technique, which he believed to be better than that of the Indian. In Test cricket, he was one of the fewest batters to have handled the deadly pace quartet of the West Indies better than many. It was an incredible feat indeed without a doubt.

Geoff was a defensive batter by nature. He was so slow in batting that there were instances where his own teammates were bored of watching him bat. In some instances, the captain used to declare the innings due to the way he used to bat. the English opener could never ace ODIs. In 36 matches in ODIs, Boycott scored 1082 runs at an average of 36.06, at a batting strike rate of 53.56, including a hundred and 9 fifties. He hit 84 fours and no six.

2. Kepler Wessels

Kepler Wessels remains one of the fewest players to have represented two top international teams like South Africa and Australia. When SA was banned from international cricket due to their stance on the Apartheid system, Wessels was one of those cricketers who were affected. But he did not stop there and went on to impress the Australian selectors with his performances in the Sheffield Shield Tournament. With that, he broke into the Australian side.

When South Africa regained its international status in the 1990s, Wessels joined South Africa. The Southpaw was already an accomplished cricketer by then. He played a handful number of ODIs for SA at the fag end of his career. While Wessels played 54 matches for Australia, he represented SA in 55 matches. For Australia, Wessels scored 1740 runs at an average of 36.25. For SA, he scored 1627 runs at an average of 32.54 without a six.

1. Manoj Prabhakar

Manoj Prabhakar might be the least expected name on the list. After all, he was one of the key players in the Indian team in the 1980s and the 1990s. By nature, Prabhakar was a bowling All-rounder. He played a handful number of Test matches for India. But ODIs was his forte where he was a good bowler for India. With the bat, Manoj was useful and made himself handy by batting in several positions wherever necessary for the team. 

The former Indian player represented his team in 130 ODIs. With the ball, Manoj claimed 157 wickets at a bowling average of 28.87. He claimed four 4-wicket hauls and two 5-wicket hauls in the format as a bowler. With the bat, Manoj scored 1858 runs at a batting average of 24.12, at a batting strike rate of 60.26. Manoj hit 2 hundred and 11 fifties in his career. But he never hit a six with the bat.