Most T20 Sixes in a Year: Heinrich Klaasen Becomes Fourth Player to Hit 100 Maximums in Calendar Year

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South Africa's Heinrich Klaasen joined elite company on Friday (November 9) during the first T20I against India as the wicketkeeper-batter became the fourth player to smash 100 sixes in a calendar year in T20s.

Klaasen achieved the feat when he hit one maximum in South Africa's failed run chase at the Kingsmead in Durban. With the solitary six, Klaasen joined West Indies trio as the only players to hit 100 sixes in the shortest format in a year.

Apart from Klaasen, West Indies big hitters Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran and Andre Russell are the other players to have smashed 100 sixes in the shortest format of the game in a single year.

T20 legend Gayle has hit 100 maximums in a year six times (2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2017) while left-hand batter Pooran achieved the feat earlier this year and all-rounder Russell, who is close to doing it the second time, crossed the 100 sixes mark in 2019.

Pooran, who has been a journeyman across the leagues, leads the list for most sixes by a batter in a single year, having cleared the ropes a 165 times already this year. He is next followed by Gayle, who had 135 sixes in 2015. Here is a look at the player with most sixes in a year in T20s:

Most T20 Sixes in a calendar year

• Nicholas Pooran - 165 sixes in 2024
• Chris Gayle - 135 sixes in 2015
• Chris Gayle - 121 sixes in 2012
• Chris Gayle - 116 sixes in 2011
• Chris Gayle - 112 sixes in 2016
• Chris Gayle - 101 sixes in 2017
• Andre Russell - 100 sixes in 2019
• Chris Gayle - 100 sixes in 2013
• Heinrich Klaasen - 100 sixes in 2024
• Glenn Phillips - 97 sixes in 2021

Among the 100 big hits, Klaasen hit 38 sixes in the Indian Premier Leage (IPL) 2024 earlier this year, finishing joint-second with Virat Kohli and behind his Sunrisers Hyderabad teammate Abhishek Sharma, who had hit 42 sixes in a singles season of IPL.

Pooran finished third in IPL 2024 for most sixes with 36 maximums. The West Indies wicketkeeper-batter has also smashed 34 sixes in internationals this year. He could add more to his tally in the upcoming series against England.

Klaasen, however, has only managed to hit 14 sixes for South Africa this year despite crossing the century-mark overall in the shortest format. India's Sanju Samson and Suryakumar Yadav have both hit 22 sixes each this year.

The current Indian T20I captain Suryakumar holds the record for most sixes in T20Is in a calendar year, having smashed 68 maximums in 2022. He is also joint-fourth in the same list, having hit 43 sixes in 2023.