Life ain’t easy for a Kiwi cricketer these days. Gone are the times when New Zealand was a competitive ODI unit. In fact, it was only a decade ago that Stephen Fleming’s squad beat India in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy. With the likes of Nathan Astle, Chris Cairns and Adam Parore leading the way, these were heady days indeed. However, in the current ODI series against India, New Zealand are 4-0 down and have barely raised a pulse.

After an impressive test series, the Kiwi’s just haven’t been able to match it with the domineering Indians. This is a little strange as India decided to drop the majority of its top players for the series, leaving Gautam Gambhir in charge of a young squad eager to impress. Led by the experienced trio of Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Kahn, the Indian team is full of exiting new talent. The likes of Virat Kohli and in the last match Yusuf Pathan, have particularly impressed with their fine stroke play and well compiled hundreds. On the bowling front Kahn, Sreesanth and the returning Ashish Nehra have all been constantly challenging, whilst there has been a welcome injection of youth with the off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. Another important aspect of this fresh Indian squad is their fielding, led by the likes of Yuvraj Singh. This squad is a window into the future of Indian cricket, as the likes of Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman eventually make way in the coming years.

New Zealand on the other hand has been little more than dreadful. In the game overnight they at least broke through the 300 mark, but were still beaten by 5 wickets and with an over and a half to spare. The problem for the Kiwi’s is that they just don’t have any consistency. Players such as Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor and Tim Southee show that New Zealand can still produce talented cricketers, however they just don’t produce performances that are of a consistently high level. Although a fine cricketer over his career, the fact that Scott Styris (who was part of that 2000 Champions Trophy team) is still one of their top performers is a worry. Also a point of concern is the seemingly resigned attitude of skipper Daniel Vettori. Yes, being captain of New Zealand must be tough, but Vettori has to learn to show confidence and enjoyment as he leads his country. New Zealand, like their opponents must start to show that youthful and exuberant talent can perform consistently. Until that time they will continue to beaten by sides such as India.

With the World Cup just around the corner it will be interesting to see whether India stick with these young players or revert to those who have performed for them over so many years. My feeling is that they must invest in this youth, and that if they do they will see great dividends. New Zealand is also at an important juncture. Although its new talent does not hold as much promise, it is still important that they give them a fair go in the side leading up to the Cup. Perhaps if they do this then there will be a smile on Dan Vettori’s face after all.

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Scoring 6 consecutive sixes is an impressive and rare achievement in any form of cricket. When Yuvraj Singh smashedStuart Broad to all corners of the park and beyond in Kingsmead in the Super Eights of the Twenty20 World Cup, he became only the fourth batsman in the history of the game to register 36 runs in an over, following in the footsteps of Gary Sobers, Ravi Shastri and Herschelle Gibbs. Sobers and Shastri did it in first class cricket, whilst Gibbs and Yuvraj achieved it in ODIs and Twenty20s respectively.

Whilst comparing achievements from dissimilar eras is always hard – try arguing that Bradman is not the greatest cricketer of all time because he didn’t play in the professional era – in this case one of the feats excites and exceeds the others in its sheer class and graceful strokeplay.

Garfield Sobers – 6 Sixes in an over for Nottinghamshire vs Glamorgan , 1968 Swansea

Sobers, the then captain of Nottinghamshire, became the first ever batsman to hit six sixes in a single over of six consecutive balls in first-class cricket. Five of the sixes were beautifully clean strikes with a the full swing of the bat, but the record itself was only achieved with an enormous stroke of luck. Having hit four consecutive fours he got under a lofted drive that only made it past the ropes by some schoolboy fielding from Roger Davis palming it over the bar for 6.

The unlucky victim of his unchecked aggression was slow left arm bowler Malcolm Nash. At first glance from the video the bowling of Nash looks somewhat tame. But Sobers feat should not be devalued especially when you consider Nash’s impressive first class record – just under 1000 first class victims at a shade over an average of 25.

Herschelle Gibbs Slogs 6 Sixes in an over for South Africa vs the Netherlands, World Cup ODI, Warner Park, 2007

Elegance, gracefullness, cultivated are three words that I would often associate with Herschelle Gibb’s batting. On this occasion they could not be less fitting as Gibbs bludgeons the unfortunate Dan van Bunge in agricultural fashion for 6 consecutive sixes. The Netherlands show their faces every four years on the world cricket scene and Gibbs could not have highlighted their status as perennial whipping boys any better.

Ravi Shastri – 6 Sixes in an over for Bombay vs Baroda 1985

Video footage of this momentous Gary Sobers equalling achievement has been very hard to come by. The unfortunate bowler in this case was left arm spinner Tilak Raj and Shastri went on to score 200 not out the process.

(NOTE: listen very carefully to the commentary of Yuvraj’s footage and Ravi might get onto this video reel after all )

Yuvraj Singh – 6 Sixes in an over for India vs England in the Twenty20 World Cup, Kingsmead 2007

Yuvraj Singh’s feat overshadows everything that has gone before it in breathtaking fashion. The increasingly notable feature of batsman clearing away their front foot and having a free flowing swing of the blade in the shorter form of the game could not have been more superbly illustrated. Impeccable timing, proper cricket shots and hefty, hefty blows. It could be an advertisement for the modern game.

Spare a thought for Stuart Broad the unfortunate bowler. To be dealt with so savagely at the start of an international career then requires a lot of character to perform once more in the future. A couple of questions have to be asked though which could have changed the course of the events – Why did Flintoff have such heated words with Yuvraj before the over? Why didn’t Broad throw in the short ball if the yorker was misfiring?