The mere mention of ‘six sixes’ rankles England captain Stuart Broad, who was at the receiving end when Yuvraj Singh accomplished the feat in the 2007 World Twenty20, but the pacer was sporting enough to “welcome” the Indian batsman back after recovery from Cancer.
“I know you don’t want to remember but I have to remind you about the six sixes hit by Yuvraj Singh,” quipped an Indian mediaperson at the pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow’s India-England clash in the ongoing WT20.
“So, what’s your question?” was the curt response from Broad, who has come a long way since that fateful September 19, five years back.
“Well, Yuvraj is a great player and we all welcome him having made such a strong comeback. Obviously, he is one of the most dangerous players but we will meet on the field tomorrow,” Broad said when asked to comment on Yuvraj’s comeback.
After having thrashed Afghanistan by a whopping 116-run margin, Broad hoped a repeat of this performance against India.
“It was a great innings by Luke (Wright). I believe the match against India will be a good one. They have a huge fan following and hopefully it will be an exciting contest. Having played Australia and Pakistan in the two warm-up games, we are well-prepared to take on India,” the skipper said.
Broad also doesn’t want to think too much about whether India’s bowling line-up is weak or not.
“We would rather concentrate on our strengths. I don’t think it’s as weak as it is being made out to be. They have some experienced bowlers but they have a very strong batting line-up.
“They have players who can be dangerous if they are allowed to get set. Obviously, we have watched the match against Afghanistan and we have some strategy for them”.
Broad seemed pleasantly surprised at the nature of the Sri Lankan wickets which has more bounce and carry nowadays.
“It’s good that it’s helping the fast bowlers. The other day, I watched Kallis’s spell against Zimbabwe and was pretty impressed seeing the carry as well as some of the deliveries that skidded off the surface.
“Hopefully, once we are in Pallekele for our Super Eights, we would be able to exploit those conditions”.