• Home
  • What If
  • What If Yuvraj Singh Hadnt Hit 6 Sixes In India Vs England 2007 T20 World Cup Match

What If Yuvraj Singh Hadn't Hit 6 Sixes In India Vs England 2007 T20 World Cup Match

Debashis Sarangi

Yuvraj Singh smashed 6 sixes vs ENG [Source: AFP]Yuvraj Singh smashed 6 sixes vs ENG [Source: AFP]

18 years ago, legendary Indian batter Yuvraj Singh achieved a remarkable feat on this date. While representing India in the inaugural T20 World Cup, Yuvraj smashed six consecutive sixes in an over off Stuart Broad, becoming the second player to attain the feat in international cricket. 

Yuvraj's phenomenal record not only grabbed the limelight but also ensured a smooth win for the Indian side in the match. But what if the southpaw failed to smash Broad for six maximums?

India Could've Crashed Out Of 2007 T20 WC

It's worth mentioning that the match against England was India's second Super Eight affair after they kick-started the round with a narrow ten-run defeat to New Zealand. So, technically, the Men in Blue desperately needed a victory to boost their chances of qualifying for the semifinal. 

Yuvraj's sensational 18-ball 56 powered India to 218 in 20 overs. Had he missed the milestone, chances were high that India would've finished with a much lesser score on the board. Given that England managed to touch the 200-run mark and lost the game barely by 18 runs, it could've been a tough task for India to win the game without Yuvraj's exploits. 

New Zealand had already won two games by then; so, had India lost to England, they would've crashed out of the competition, with South Africa qualifying for the semifinal. 

Future Of MS Dhoni, The Captain Would've Jeopardised

After India suffered a humiliating group-stage elimination from the 2007 ODI World Cup, a young team, led by MS Dhoni, was picked for the first-ever T20 World Cup. The shortest format was in its nascent stage back then, and it was just an experiment by the BCCI to hand over the captaincy reins to Dhoni. 

As Dhoni's excellent tactics won India the championship, the board considered him the long-term captain across formats. This eventually led to the golden era of Indian cricket, where the Men in Blue clinched two more ICC titles, including a home World Cup. 

However, had India suffered an early exit, chances were high that the BCCI would've continued with Dhoni, who had just over three years of experience in international cricket, as the captain. In that case, we might've witnessed a senior pro like Virender Sehwag or Yuvraj replacing Rahul Dravid as the white-ball skipper. 

IPL Might Not Have Seen A Smooth Start

"I totally believe that T20 World Cup win in 2007 changed the perspective of Indian fans in accepting the format. Because before 2007 T20 World Cup, we were not even interested in playing T20s. India had just played 1 T20I at that time. But because India won the World Cup, people started accepting T20 cricket and that’s why the IPL was accepted throughout the country and all around the world as India had won the WC in that format," Irfan Pathan told Crictracker in an interview. 

The aforementioned statement by former all-rounder Irfan Pathan, one of India's most prolific performers in that tournament, signifies how crucial the role the T20 World Cup victory played in popularising the T20 format in the country. This further set the foundation for India's own global T20 league, which, in turn, became an extraordinary source of revenue for the BCCI, elevating its stature as the most powerful governing body among all the boards.