Usage of plural "maximums" in "I tried to go for six maximums"

Question

After his Man of the Match performance, Rohit appeared on the Chahal TV, hosted by leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, and revealed the mantra for hitting sixes.

“When I hit three consecutive sixes, I tried to go for six maximums. But when I missed the fourth one, I decided I will take singles,” said Rohit while speaking about his three consecutive sixes which he hit against off-spinner Mosaddek Hossain.

_{Hindustan Times: ‘I tried to go for six sixes but...’ Rohit Sharma reveals what changed his mind}

This is a piece of news paper report published online in India. It is a quote from the player.

I have searched on Google to find out whether the word maximum can be used as plural noun but I could not find it. I think it is an abstract noun and so it can not be used in the plural number.

Here is a link.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/maximum

The link shows that maximum is usually singular and its plural form is maximums. I think in the sentence it should be six sixers. I am doubtful of the use maximums in the sentence.

** can the word maximum be used as a plural noun as in the given sentence**?

Answer 1

There are a couple of issues.

First "can 'a maximum' mean 'a six-run hit' in cricket jargon?" The answer to that is 'yes, in context'. If you said:

I hit a maximum on the last ball of the over.

(and it was clear that you were talking about cricket, to someone who understands the rules of the game) then it would be understood. So "a maximum" in a cricket context can mean "a six-run hit".

As for the plural: there are two possibilities "maxima" or "maximums". In maths and science we would often say "the local maxima of the function" when talking about the peaks of a graph

The cos(x) graph has maxima at 0 and 360 degrees, and minima at +-180 degrees.

But in less formal contexts, such as in sport or in spoken English, the regular plural "maximums" is more common. So Rohit's use of English is correct and appropriate to the context. This particular usage is specific to cricket and is a little casual, so probably isn't in regular dictionaries yet.

Answer 2

Can the word "maximum" be used as a plural noun as in the given sentence?

Yes, it can be used in its plural form.

In cricket, the maximum a batsman can score from a single ball is six points (i.e., six runs). When a batsman does that, it is called "hitting a six". Since there are 6 balls in an over, the batsman can hit 6 sixes (this gives him a total of thirty-six runs).

In your case, the batsman had intended to hit 6 sixes. And because "six" is the maximum, it is idiomatic to say both

"I tried to go for 6 sixes"

and

"I tried to go for 6 maximums"

I suspect he just wasn't comfortable saying "six sixes". Furthermore, it is colloquial to say "maximum" when referring to "hitting a six" in cricket. There are many instances of its use in google news (sports news: cricket). Here are two:

"Scoring 56 (62), he hit three boundaries and two maximums." - CT 2017, Match 6: ENG v NZ – 5 Game Changing Moments

"Malan reached three figures in just 48 balls to become only England’s second centurion in the format, smashing nine fours and six maximums." - Malan reacts to setting England record in crushing T20 win over New Zealand

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Okay, now with cricket out of the way, the plural "maximums" can be (and is) used in many other scenarios.

The maximum employer and employee contribution to the CPP for next year will be $2,898 each, and the maximum self-employed contribution will be $5,796. The maximums in 2019 were $2,748.90 and $5,497.80, respectively. - CPP maximum pensionable earnings for 2020

"In the previous section we were asked to find and classify all critical points as relative minimums, relative maximums and/or saddle points." - google