What Rohit Sharma's six record against New Zealand says about his batting now

Two sixes off Kyle Jamieson in the rain-hit second ODI in Wellington took Rohit Sharma past Shahid Afridi for the most sixes against New Zealand in ODIs. India held on to win by four runs on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern and lead the five-match series 2-0. The innings that carried the record was 23 from 28 balls.

Twenty-three makes a modest anchor for a reply that finished on 113 for 7 from 26 overs, although in a match where New Zealand were bowled out for 134, nobody batted for long. A record for sixes against one opponent is built from longevity and fixture lists as much as from hitting. Rohit, with 292 ODIs since 2007, has had a long time to fill the column.

Is Rohit Sharma hitting harder than ever in ODIs?

He is, and that is the better story. Across his career in men's ODIs Rohit has scored at a strike rate of 93.2. Over the last two years it has risen to 101.5, well clear of the 85.4 managed by all top-seven batters in that time.

Batters usually pay for that extra speed by getting out more, and Rohit has not. His average over those two years sits only a fraction below his career mark, and comfortably above what a typical top-order batter makes. He is opening faster and getting out no more often, which is the hardest combination in one-day batting to find. Our ratings rank him eighth among the 143 men's ODI batters they cover.

Rohit Sharma's form in the New Zealand series

The record also arrived in his leanest week for a while. Before this tour he made 138 against England, then 101 and 92 against West Indies. In New Zealand he has made 0 at Eden Park and 23 in Wellington. Both matches have been low and scrappy, with India's chases lurching along like a supermarket trolley with one bad wheel, and the bowlers have decided them.

What comes next at Seddon Park?

India go to Seddon Park on Tuesday as the top side in our ratings, with a 76% chance of beating an average side, and we make them 59% to win the third ODI. A record for sixes against one country makes a good quiz answer. The faster scoring of the last two years is what should trouble New Zealand. Rohit is scoring quicker than his career rate and as reliably as ever, and Seddon Park is the ground to put a proper score beside the record.