Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh revealed what England’s Andrew Flintoff had said to him during their verbal spat in the 2007 T20 World Cup. The inaugural edition of the tournament is remembered for many things. From Misbah Ul Haq’s cheeky shot in the final over against India and Yuvraj smoking the ball into the stands for six sixes off Stuart Broad in an over after his animated verbal chat with Flintoff. Yuvraj recalled the moment when Flintoff provoked him after he had smacked a couple of boundaries in his over.
“Freddie bowled two good balls, he bowled a length ball, which went for a boundary, and a good yorker, which I was hit over the point. When I was walking after taking a single, he said, “F… shit shots,” Yuvraj said in the Club Prairie Fire podcast.
Flintoff didn’t hold back and continued to provoke Yuvraj, which led to an altercation between the two, forcing the umpire to step in.
“He repeated that on my face. I walked towards him; he kind of spat on me. I showed him my bat, saying that you know where it’s going to go. It went worse after that. Then the umpire came in,” Yuvraj added.
Look out in the crowd!
On this day in 2007, @YUVSTRONG12 made #T20WorldCup history, belting six sixes in an over pic.twitter.com/Bgo9FxFBq6
— ICC (@ICC) September 19, 2021
Despite hitting six consecutive sixes off young Broad, Yuvraj was delighted when “I hit Freddie for a six, I enjoyed it more (than six sixes).”
Yuvraj’s presence in the tournament often turned out to be a deciding factor for India throughout their triumphant campaign. Recently, his former compatriot Sreesanth claimed that without the swashbuckling all-rounder, India wouldn’t have lifted the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007.
“It was the senior and junior combination. Dhoni was captain, but without Yuvraj, I don’t think we would have won the World Cup. We didn’t win the World Cup just because of Dhoni. His captaincy was good. The entire management was with us. We won the World Cup because of everyone, not just a single person,” Sreesanth told ANI.
In a nerve-wracking thriller, a collective effort from the players got India across the line, crowning them as the first team to clinch the title against their arch-rival Pakistan.
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