England pacer Stuart Broad reflected on Yuvraj Singh’s six sixes in the 2007 T20 World Cup, which was a tough learning experience early in his career and helped shape him into the competitor he is today, emphasizing the importance of bouncing back from bad days and putting poor performances behind to allow the good ones to shine in cricket.
Many former Indian players have stated in the past that Broad would be remembered for the six sixes Yuvraj Singh smashed against the England pacer in the 2007 T20 World Cup India-England match in Durban. Yuvraj made history on September 19, 2007, when he became the first batsman to knock six consecutive sixes in an over in a T20I match during the first T20 World Cup. Yuvraj took Broad to the cleaners in the 19th over of India’s innings, smashing him for six sixes in all areas of the stadium to push India’s total beyond 200 runs.
“Yeah, it was obviously a pretty tough day. What would I have been: 21, 22? [22] I learned loads. I pretty much based a whole mental routine through that experience knowing that I was left very short as an international performer in that moment. I’d rushed my preparation. I didn’t have any sort of pre-ball routine. I didn’t have any focus, particularly, and I started building my ‘warrior mode’ that I call it after that experience,” Broad said in the press conference.
“Ultimately, of course, I wish that didn’t happen. I think what really helped me was it was a dead rubber, so it didn’t feel like I’d knocked us out of the World Cup or something. But I think it steeled me up to make me the competitor I am to this day and has driven me forward a huge amount,” Broad added.
Broad said that every player goes through ups and downs throughout their career, citing Ben Stokes as a prime example. However, he emphasized the importance of resilience in bouncing back and not letting poor performance affect future matches. Over his extensive 15 to 16-year cricketing career, Broad emphasized that dealing with bad days is crucial, as they often outnumber the good ones. This ability to handle setbacks is necessary to ensure that one’s talent can flourish on the field.
“You obviously go through massive peaks and troughs and when you look at someone like Stokesy’s career, he’s done that sort of thing as well. Most players have. But ultimately I think it’s that bounce-back ability and that ability to be able to put poor days behind you because certainly one thing over the past whatever – 15, 16 years – you have a lot more bad days than good days in cricket so you have to be able to do with them to make sure your good days can flourish,” Broad concluded his answer to the question.
