September 19, 2007. The World T20 was going on in South Africa and India were taking on England in their Super 8 clash. It was a must-win game and yours truly had just come home from college in time for the match. Since the games were in the evening, it never clashed with the daily activities.
I was less than a month past my 21st birthday, full off enthusiasm and vigour, the dream of being a sports journalist loomed large. But the days of struggling in an unknown city were still to come, back then I was pretty much how any college guy would be, a little wrapped in his own bubble, obsessed with the opposite sex, but also interested in the things going on in the world.
AFP
Anyway, I have digressed enough. I settled in on my bed with snacks and cold drinks to watch the game. India were batting so that was an added bonus. I had the good fortune of having my own TV with cable and a DVD player in my own room. It was a luxury most of my friends did not have and hence most India, KKR or Manchester United matches were watched at my house. But this was a weekday and I was alone for a change. My mother was watching her share of Bengali serials in the next room in her own TV. Back in 2005 dad had insisted in putting 2 TVs so that people could watch what they wanted. Now, a year after his passing, I realised how helpful it was to have a TV in my own room.?
So the match got underway, India began piling on the runs and we seemed to be heading for a big total. At 155/3, Yuvraj came out to bat and with the death overs beginning, suddenly my mom called me. She said she was watching the game so we could watch it on her TV set and I agreed. Now I must mention here that mom usually has no interest in a game if Sourav Ganguly is not playing. In fact since his retirement, she hardly watches except when it is something big like a World Cup. But that day she was watching and I joined her. Little did I know that we would witness history.
Cricinfo
The score was 171/3 in 18 overs and Stuart Broad came on to bowl. Just before the over, Yuvraj was seen in an argument with Andrew Flintoff. It was Broad who would pay the price. What followed was carnage at a whole new level.
6,6,6,6,6,6! Now, it was not a code, it was the score of every ball of that over. Every six seemed to be bigger than the one before and none of them were slogs. All clean hits which found the stands with ease. After he had hit 5, people thought if he could make it 6 in-a-row. He did! Mom and I were wondering what was happening. We looked at each other as it sunk in that Yuvraj had just created history.
Reuters
This late burst proved to be decisive as India won by 18 runs. But for this aspiring sports journalist, it was the magnitude of the achievement which really hit hard. For Yuvraj the battle against cancer, winning the World Cup and slowly fading away were still years away. At that point he was on top of the world.
12 years on, things have changed. Yuvraj has retired, mom is still enjoying the life of a senior citizen. As for me, well I have moved to a new city and working as a sports journalist in a leading media house. But that incident has not been forgotten.
A rare occasion mom and I watched a game together and we got to see history being made. After all, how many times do you get to see 6 sixes in one over in an international game? It's only happened twice and Yuvraj has one of those to his credit.??