Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], November 29 (ANI): Former Indian captain Rohit Sharma is just three hits away from breaking Pakistan's great Shahid Afridi's record of most sixes in ODI cricket.

Sharma is set to return to the field during the three-match ODI series between India and South Africa, starting November 30 at JSCA Stadium in Ranchi.

In ODI cricket, Sharma has slammed 349 sixes, whereas Afridi has 351 sixes - the most by any batter in this format.

The elite list also includes legendary cricketers like Chris Gayle (331), Sanath Jayasuriya (270), MS Dhoni (229), Eoin Morgan (220), AB de Villiers (204), Brendon McCullum (200), Sachin Tendulkar (195), and Sourav Ganguly (190).

Apart from achieving the 350 ODI sixes milestone, Sharma is poised to become only the fourth Indian cricketer to reach the landmark of 20,000 runs in international cricket.

The veteran Indian opener has notched up 19,902 international runs in 502 matches. Sharma has made 4,301 runs in 67 Tests. He has 4,231 runs in T20Is and 11,370 runs in ODIs.

He is only 98 runs away from joining the great list of Indian batters, including Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Rahul Dravid. Tendulkar leads with 34,357 runs to his name, followed by Virat Kohli with 27,673 runs and Dravid with 24,064 runs.

Sharma, who retired from T20Is after winning the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, also left Test cricket earlier this year.

Sharma will enter the South Africa ODI series off the back of a match-winning hundred against Australia in Sydney. He scored an unbeaten 121 off 125 balls, helping India register a consolation win after being 2-0 down in a three-match ODI series.

Virat Kohli will return to action for India during the three-match ODI series against South Africa. Like Rohit, Kohli now only plays in ODIs.

Team India will look to boost their morale after suffering a 2-0 Test series whitewash at home against the Proteas earlier in the week. (ANI)