While recalling this historic feat in a video interview with ICCYuvraj said: “In the last two innings I didn’t do well, so I was very keen to go out and get some big hits and some kind of form.It was the 19th and I had to throw everything away.
Freddie (Andrew Flintoff) played two very good balls actually and on the last ball of the 18th over, I took a single. (Few words were exchanged between the two). And I was just like. I’m sorry, what did you say? Obviously I was angry, then the referee came in. Regardless, I was furious. I was so furious I just wanted to knock every ball out of the ground. The first ball hit out of the park. I remember hitting that one and not even realizing the magnitude of it.”
When the anchor asked Yuvraj that after hitting four sixes at Broad, do you have six sixes in mind at this point? To which he replied after taking a deep breath: “No, I actually have five sixes in mind since I was hit for five sixes by Dimitri Mascrenahas in the final of the 2007 ODI Oval. It was also very humiliating. You don’t want to get hit for five sixes. I was in that place and being hit for 5 sixes is not a good feeling.
I was like Dimitri was standing at mid-wicket and Flintoff was at deep square leg. I know where he was standing. Here what happened was that Broad went over the stumps at the last moment. When he did that, in my mind, I felt like I knew where he was going to play. I was ready for it to be a full yorker towards my legs, and I just wanted to get my bat on it.”
Inside the Mind of Yuvraj Singh: The Legend Behind the Famous Six Sixes | T20WC2007
About his nervousness before the sixth and final six, Yuvraj said: “I was not nervous at all. It was him (Broad) who was nervous as I can see his body language. If you see, there had a smile on my face at that moment, and that smile was for Dimitri, I normally bat at #4 and. MS Dhoni at No. 4 and after reaching the final six, MS told me that every time you fight after me, your strike rate is double.
The great thing about Freddie is he talked about it after the match and shook hands, and that’s why I have a lot of respect for Flintoff. (On Broad) I think it was a great moment in his career because he knew that from now on he had to add more variety in his bowling. He just can’t come and play Yorkers. He has to play slower balls, bouncers. Obviously he was young and learning too. And from there he took 600 Test wickets. I don’t think without that moment he would have ended up with 600 wickets. This moment probably made him work harder and realize how important it is to succeed. It was definitely the moment that made him a legend.”
“Yes, it was one of the iconic moments and I cherish it, but if we had not won the World Cup, it wouldn’t have been so special I guess,” Yuvraj concluded.
Yuvraj’s blistering innings came to an end when he was caught at long-on in the penultimate delivery of the final over, having racked up a superb 58 runs off just 16 balls. His explosive performance proved decisive as India cruised to a 20-run victory.