'Warrior' Broad opens up on mental impact of Yuvraj's six sixes

England's star pacer Stuart Broad surprised fans and cricket fraternity alike when he announced his decision to retire from international cricket following the end of the fifth Ashes Test. 

Broad, one of England's leading pacers in the longest format, is among the select few bowlers in cricket history to pick over 600 wickets in Tests, and enjoyed a 17-year long international career. 

Over the past many years, Broad primarily established himself in red-ball cricket, doing away with white-ball formats after the 2015 World Cup. And while the 37-year-old did enjoy success in T20Is and ODIs as well, he went down in history for all the wrong reasons during the 2007 T20 World Cup, when he became the first bowler in T20I history to be hit for six sixes in an over.

In a match against India in the World Cup, Broad was hit for six maximums in a row by former southpaw Yuvraj Singh; justifiably, the over went down in history and continues to be recounted to this date. In fact, Broad didn't escape a question about the over even as he announced his retirement on Saturday. It has been 17 years since the infamous over for the English pacer, but Broad insisted that it was a vital moment in his career.

"Yeah, it was obviously a pretty tough day, what would I have been, 21, 22? I learnt a lot, I pretty much based a whole mental routine through that experience, knowing that I was left very short as an international performer. I'd rushed my preparation, I didn't have any pre-ball routine, I didn't have any focus," Broad told reporters following Day 3 of the final Ashes Test.

Broad stated that the experience against Yuvraj helped his mental strength, and also provided an example of Ben Stokes, who went through a similarly difficult ordeal in the 2016 edition of the T20 World Cup; the all-rounder was smashed for four sixes in a row in the final over of the title clash against West Indies, as Carlos Brathwaite won the trophy for the Caribbean side. Since then, however, Stokes not only played a key role in steering England to ODI and T20 World Cup wins in 2019 and 2022 respectively, but also ascended to captaincy in Tests last year.

"I started building my 'warrior mode' that I call it after that experience. Ultimately, I wish that didn't happen. What really helped me that it was a dead rubber, so I didn't feel like I'd knocked us out of the World Cup. 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.

"You go through massive peaks and troughs, and when you look at someone like Stokesy's (Ben Stokes) career, he's done that sort of thing as well. Ultimately, it's the bouncebackability, and that ability to be able to put poor days behind you. Certainly one thing I know over past 15 or 16 years, is that you will have more bad days than good days in cricket, so you have to deal with them to make sure your good days can flourish," said Broad.