T20 World Cup Top Moments: Yuvraj Singh hammers Stuart Broad for six sixes in an over

The T20 format has taken cricket in India by storm, and currently, it’s absolutely everywhere, from the Indian Premier League, to your local gully cricket tournament. However, when the notion was first floated around, it was viewed with great scepticism by the general public. That only changed with the 2007 T20 World Cup, as a young Indian side went on to lift the trophy and cement their place in history, but the moment that truly sold the prospect of T20 cricket to a billion hearts was Yuvraj Singh’s brutal demolition of Stuart Broad when India met England in the Super Eights stage. Yuvraj Singh had only just come on in the 17th over, with India at 155/3, and he showed intent right off the mark, as he Chris Tremlett for four on his second ball faced, and then hit back-to-back boundaries off Andrew Flintoff in the next over. Singh and Flintoff then exchanged some heated words, which was probably an attempt by the English bowler to get under his opponent’s skin. It would not end well for him.

A young Stuart Broad would bowl the next over, the penultimate one of India’s innings. India were now at 171/3. Ball 1: Yuvraj Singh hits it miles, a mammoth shot over cow corner which appears to rise and rise and rise, before getting lost somewhere in the stands. Ball 2: A flick of the wrist, and it’s a gorgeous, elegant and almost dismissive shot, sent over the boundary ropes beyond backward square leg. The camera pans to Flintoff, fielding in the deep. He’s shaking his head with a wry smile on his face. He knows what’s happening, but it’s too late to stop it now. Ball 3: Yuvraj whacks the ball over extra cover, and it looks for a second like it might not go the distance, but when it eventually comes down, it’s safe amongst the crowd. Ball 4: Broad bowls a wide full toss, and Yuvraj Singh sticks a bat out and sends it arcing away over backward point for another six. The alarm bells are well and truly going off for England now. Broad finds himself surrounded by a couple of players trying to mitigate the damage, chief among which is Paul Collingwood. He gives the young pacer a talking to, and then departs. Ball 5: Yuvraj gets down on one knee, and unleashes a cannon of a shot over midwicket. It was hit high into the night sky with aplomb. Broad’s smiling. Not much else he can do at the moment. Collingwood goes over to have another chat with him, but that’s not going to accomplish much. Ball 6: Yuvraj smacks it over wide mid-on. It was never in question. With that shot, Yuvraj also brought up his half-century in just 12 balls, a record which still stands in T20I cricket. He would go on to score eight more runs, before being caught by Collingwood on the second-last ball of the innings. India would post a total of 218/4, and England, despite their best efforts, would end up losing the match by 18 runs. Following that match, India beat South Africa in the last Super Eight fixture, before getting the better of Australia in the semi-finals and Pakistan in the final to become the very first World T20 champions.