Tanzid Hasan Tamim of Dhaka Capitals has overtaken every Bangladeshi batter in terms of six-hitting records, leaving only the legendary Chris Gayle ahead of him.
Tanzid’s love for sixes and his remarkable ability to clear the ropes have become a signature of his batting. His six-hitting prowess has now propelled him to the top among Bangladeshi batters in a single BPL season, surpassing Towhid Hridoy.
Even when including overseas players, only one man stands ahead of Tanzid in a single BPL season – and overtaking Chris Gayle is no easy task. After all, who could surpass the “Universe Boss” when it comes to sixes?
What Tanzid has achieved is remarkable in itself. On Wednesday, during Dhaka Capitals’ match against Chattogram Kings in Chattogram, he claimed the top spot among Bangladeshi six-hitters.
Starting the game two sixes behind Hridoy’s record, Tanzid wasted no time. In Dhaka’s chase, he hit a six off Syed Khaled Ahmed in the third over, narrowing the gap, and later smashed Shariful Islam over long-on to equal Hridoy’s tally.
But Tanzid didn’t stop there. Just one ball later, with a trademark pull shot for six, the 24-year-old claimed the record as his own.
From there, it became a matter of extending his record. Tanzid brought up his 50 off 28 balls with two more sixes off left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny. Later, he reached half a dozen sixes in the match with a hit off Hussain Talat and finished the game in style, smashing Khaled for yet another maximum. Tanzid remained unbeaten on 90 off 54 balls, featuring 7 sixes, as Dhaka chased down 149 runs.
This season, Tanzid now has a staggering 29 sixes in just 10 matches.
Previously, Towhid Hridoy held the record for the most sixes by a Bangladeshi batter in a single BPL season, with 24 sixes in 14 matches for Fortune Barishal in the last season. Before Hridoy, the record belonged to Tamim Iqbal, who hit 23 sixes in 14 matches for Comilla Victorians in the 2019 season.
Chris Gayle, however, remains in a league of his own. The “Universe Boss” smashed an astonishing 47 sixes in just 11 matches during the 2017 season – a record that feels untouchable.
With two games remaining in the league phase of this season’s BPL, Tanzid faces a near-impossible challenge of hitting 20 sixes to surpass Gayle. However, if Dhaka Capitals manage to qualify for the playoffs, he may get an additional opportunity of up to three matches.
Currently, Tanzid’s 29 sixes place him second in the all-time list for sixes in a single BPL season. In 2019, Nicholas Pooran hit 28 sixes in 11 matches for Sylhet Sixers, while Andre Russell matched that tally in 15 matches for Dhaka Dynamites in the same season.
Chris Gayle’s extraordinary feats in the BPL remain unparalleled. Back in the tournament’s first edition in 2012, the T20 legend smashed 26 sixes in just 5 matches – a record that still stands as a testament to his dominance.