Sobers, Gibbs disagree with KL's suggestion of extra runs for big sixes

Herschelle Gibbs and Gary Sobers

India's KL Rahul recently suggested that more runs should be awarded to sixes that go beyond a distance of 100 metres.

"If someone hits a six over 100 metres, more runs should be given for it," Rahul told Team India and Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli during a recent Instagram Live chat.

However, two men, who have famously hit six sixes in an over, have turned down this idea. West Indies legend Sir Garfield Sobers and South African Herschelle Gibbs both beg to differ with Rahul. "Tomorrow, some other batsman will demand more than four runs for a boundary if it's struck with more power. You can't have that," Sobers, the first man to achieve the six-sixes-in-an-over feat in first-class cricket back in 1968, told mid-day over the phone from Barbados. "We'll need to build bigger grounds, use different bats and wickets [to have more runs for a bigger six]. Though the game has changed a lot from the time it was played in our era, if this change is made, the entire scoring pattern will change. The whole scenario will change," added Sobers.

Gibbs, the first player to hit six sixes in an over in ODIs (in the 2007 ICC World Cup match v The Netherlands) said: "A six is a six and it makes no difference how far it goes. They should make the boundaries bigger, a standard size of 75 metres. That will give bowlers a better chance and the mishits won't go for six. In the T20 format, the boundaries are too short. This one change [bigger boundaries] will make things fair for bowlers."

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