Yuvraj Singh opens up about the reason why he hit six sixes

Swashbuckling Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh is best renowned for the heroics he had shown in the inaugural edition of the ICC World T20. He had smashed the English bowler Stuart Broad for six sixes in an over. Soon, he had made an image for himself as the six hitting machine of the world cricket. Undoubtedly, Yuvraj is one of the cleanest hitters of the cricket ball.

Over the years, there have been different theories about what instigated Yuvraj Singh to go all guns blazing in the historic game. Most people believe that it was the English all-rounder Andrew Flintoff who had sledged him and that provoked Yuvi to go on the attacking mode. In the recent episode of Breakfast With Champions, the southpaw denied all such claims.

The show was hosted by Gaurav Kapoor. Talking about the incident, Yuvraj noted that Flintoff had nothing to do with his aggression. In fact it was Dimitri Mascarenhas that had prompted him to do so. Dimitri had hit him for 5 sixes in an over a few months earlier in the same year 2007.

“I can only tell you my version of the story. Everyone talks about those 6 sixes. I was hit for 5 sixes by Dimitri Mascarenhas. And that day, whatever happened with Flintoff, he bowled well, I hit good shots. So he took a dig at me! So people said that, ‘Flintoff said something and that’s why Yuvraj hit 6 sixes,” quoted Yuvraj Singh.

Adding further to the story, he noted that he had the belief that he will do well in that game. He felt that he was middling the ball well and knew that something good was in store for him on the day. Yuvraj remarked having been in a similar situation before as a bowler helped him read the mind of Stuart Broad.

“Even if he hadn’t said that, I feel that on that day I would have hit those sixes because of the way I was hitting the ball. There are some days when you know actually what’s going to happen. So I was able to calculate that. I actually felt that this is where the ball’s going to come because with the field setting. I got hit earlier, I know how pressure is. So I kept on the pressure,” added the veteran Indian batsman.

When asked by Gaurav whether it was indeed the fact of being hit for 5 sixes the actual reason why he could hit six in an over, Yuvraj Singh responded in positive. He cited how he smashed Broad to all parts of the park.

“Exactly! Because, Now I got hit for 3 sixes. Now, Dimitri Mascarenhas knew that I wasn’t going to ball slow. So he was waiting for that fast ball. So he hit me in the same rhythm. I knew that Broad won’t aim for anything but a yorker. Because he’s under pressure right now. He has to bowl a yorker. He has to get it there. And I think that was the reason of hitting 6 balls in six different directions,” conceded the 35 year old batsman.