New Delhi: On March 16, 2007, Herschelle Gibbs entered the record books for emulating the feat of Sir Garfield Sobers who had hit six sixes in an over in 1968. Ravi Shastri of India was the second person to hit six sixes in an over which he did in a Ranji Trophy match in 1985.
On March 19, Gibbs came face to face with Sobers and gave a cheque of $1 million to the charity he supports.
The first and the newest member of an exclusive club then shared their thoughts in St Kitts.
The feat of Sobers hitting six sixes in an over off Malcom Nash is immortalised in a grainy footage of 1968. While in the 2007 World Cup Gibbs smashed a hapless Daan van Bunge of the Netherlands for the same.
"It's obviously a huge honour for me to receive this award in the presence of Sir Garfield Sobers. Not only are you a great ambassador for the game but your a legend of the game so it's a huge honour and privilege to be sitting alongside you and receiving this award," Gibbs said.
And as the audience soaked in the atmosphere there were the inevitable questions to Gibbs to relive his feat.
"I decided to stay in my crease and the next two just disappeared and when that happened I didn't know what to do. But everybody else was making so much noise," Gibbs said.
The legend, too, had some advice for the South African.
"People recognise me as the man who hit six sixes. I have often wondered if that is the only thing that I have done in cricket > i have done al little more that hit just six sixes. So I hope that Herschelle won't be branded with that," Sobers said.
However, Gibbs can't afford to relax any more as the South Africans have a big match coming up against world champions Australia.
The last time they clashed, Gibbs was the man of the match for scoring 175 at the Wanderers as South Africa successfully chased the then world record score of 434 runs.