Carlos Brathwaite reveals what was going on in his mind during that immortal World T20 over
Even though it was played 4 years ago, the World T20 final of 2016 will be fresh in the memory of lovers of the game due to the heroics of Carlos Brathwaite. The four back-to-back sixes that he hit in the final over helped West Indies win the World T20 Trophy for a second time.
Recently, in the BBC Test Match Special platform, Carlos Brathwaite provided an insight into what was going through his mind during that over.
First ball. Ben Stokes is running in. Carlos Brathwaite is on strike. He bowls a full delivery on the leg stump. Brathwaite flicks it away over the square leg boundary for a six!
Carlos Brathwaite says he was not thinking too much about the result of the game. He anticipated that England's plan would be to bowl either full and wide or full on his legs.
All he wanted to do was to get his bat on the ball. He was going on autopilot mode, trying to connect every time, and by the time he realised what was going on, three sixes had already been scored off the first three balls.
Carlos Brathwaite felt that if Ben Stokes had given him some time to think between the balls, the scenario could have been really different.
"I knew England only one or two plans, wide or straight yorkers. So my focus was getting bat on ball. The first three balls happened so quickly. I was on autopilot for the first three balls. Stokes should have given me more time to think about what I needed to do."
Second ball. Its once again a full ball on the middle and leg by Ben Stokes. Carlos Brathwaite hoicks it straight back over the long-on boundary for the second six of the over! The crowd is going crazy!
West Indies required 19 runs off the final over after an economical 19th over from Chris Jordan. Marlon Samuels was well set on 85, but he was at the non-striker's end.
Carlos Brathwaite had just played a couple of T20s for West Indies before the tournament and had batted only a couple of times before that in the T20 World Cup. He was largely an unknown entity. The expectation was that he would put Marlon Samuels on strike at the earliest opportunity.
7 runs required off 4 balls now. Captain Eoin Morgan had a small chat with Ben Stokes. The pressure is on the fielding side now. He runs in and bowls a full delivery on the middle, Carlos Brathwaite tries to hit it to long-on, the bat spins in his hand. The ball has just enough on it to clear the long-off fence. Ben Stokes is down on his knees. Eden Gardens is on its feet now! West Indies players are jubilant in the dugout.
There was no sympathy for Ben Stokes, says Carlos Brathwaite
Reality dawned on Carlos Brathwaite after the third six. There was a long interval after that ball. The visually devastated Ben Stokes needed time before delivering the final ball.
The whole English team was shell-shocked, but all Carlos Brathwaite thought about was enjoying that moment and scoring the one run which was still required. He stated that there was no sympathy at that moment for Ben Stokes.
"There was no sympathy for Stokes on his knees at that time. We still needed one run at the time to win. There was then a bit of a break after that third ball, there was a bit of a time to think. I thought just enjoy this, you never know what might happen in the future."
Ben Stokes running in for the fourth ball off the over. Just one run required now. It's again full and on the stumps. Carlos Brathwaite heaves it over midwicket for the fourth six in a row. West Indies players run onto the field. The whole of Eden Gardens is on its feet. The voice of Ian Bishop is exploding in the commentary box, "Carlos Brathwaite! Carlos Brathwaite! Remember the name! History for the West Indies!"
History had been made.