"I walked towards him and he kind of spat at me"- Yuvraj Singh recalls Andrew Flintoff's sledging that sparked his 6 sixes in 2007 T20 World Cup
Former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh recently recalled the sledging incident with England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff during the 2007 T20 World Cup clash at Durban. Yuvraj walked into bat with India in firm control at 155/3 in the 17th over and smashed a 12-ball half-century.
The southpaw struck Flintoff for consecutive boundaries in the 18th over, sparking the England all-rounder to have a go at him.
Recalling the same on the Club Prairie Fire YouTube podcast, Yuvraj said [8:13]:
"Freddie (Flintoff) bowled two good balls - a length ball that didn't hit the middle of my bat but went for a boundary, then he bowled a really good yorker that I was able to hit over point. I took a single off the last ball and he went after me saying 'Shit shots' and I was like 'I am sorry' and he repeated that again in my face. I walked towards him and he kind of spat at me."
Yuvraj continued:
"I said 'Do you see this bat in my hand, do you know where it's going to go'. It went worse after that and that's when the umpire came in and when I hit Freddie for one six, I enjoyed that more than the six sixes."
The following over saw Yuvraj smash a young Stuart Broad for six maximums to complete his half-century off 12 deliveries.
He also recalled looking towards all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas, who had smashed him for five sixes off the final over of an ODI at the Oval a fortnight earlier.
"I remember I got hit for five sixes against Dimitri (Mascarenhas) in one of the one-day games. I don't know why Rahul Dravid gave me the last over to bowl because all our fast bowlers were getting thumped at the Oval. I bowled the 48th over for two runs and he gave me the 50th over and Dimitri hit me for five sixes. And when I hit the fifth six, Dimitri was at deep mid-wicket and I looked at him and smiled and I was like 'That's equal now and the last one is for me'," said Yuvraj.
Yuvraj smashed Flintoff for a maximum in the final over of the innings before being dismissed off the following delivery for a 16-ball 58.
"I was a bit furious and I was like I just want to hit every ball out of the ground" - Yuvraj Singh
In the same video, Yuvraj Singh admitted Flintoff's sledging made him so furious that he wanted to smash every ball out of the ground.
His demolition of Broad for 36 in the penultimate over of the innings propelled India to a massive 218/4 in 20 overs.
"It was the first T20 World Cup and nobody knew how to approach a T20 game. 2007 was new and all our seniors were rested, There was hardly any planning and it was just one of those days where everything hits the center of your bat and when I went into bat, the argument with Flintoff encouraged that. He said a few words and I went to the umpire and said he started it. Either he stops it or you have to interfere. I was a bit furious and I was like I just want to hit every ball out of the ground and it actually happened," said Yuvraj [3:59].
"After the third six when I hit Broady over long-off, Collingwood came and discussed with him and he (Broad) just changed his line and tried to attack my legs after that and I was like this is good for me because the leg side was shorter. The fourth ball he bowled was actually a decent ball but the boundaries were so short, It went for a six. And the last ball I knew there was no option and he had to bowl just the yorker because he was young and slower balls, slower bouncers type variations were not there in T20s at that time," he added.
India eventually won the contest by 18 runs and the result sparked their magical title run in the tournament, where they defeated Pakistan in the grand finale by five runs to lift the trophy.