London: Following the conclusion of the fifth Ashes Test, England's star pacer Stuart Broad unexpectedly announced his decision to retire from international cricket. One of England's top pacers in the longest format, Broad had a 17-year international career and is one of the few bowlers in cricket history to take over 600 wickets in Test matches.
After the 2015 World Cup, Broad primarily made a name for himself in red-ball cricket, abandoning white-ball formats.
The 37-year-old also had success in ODIs and T20Is, but he made history in the wrong way at the 2007 T20 World Cup when he became the first bowler to ever take six sixes in a single over.
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Yuvraj Singh, a former southpaw, hit Broad for six consecutive maximums during a World Cup match against India; the over, which is still talked about today, has rightfully gone down in history.
In fact, Broad was asked about the over even as he made his retirement announcement on Saturday. Although the English pacer's infamous over occurred 17 years ago, Broad insisted that it was a crucial point in his career.
“Yeah, it was obviously a pretty tough day, what would I have been, 21, 22? I learnt a lot, I pretty much based a whole mental routine through that experience, knowing that I was left very short as an international performer. I'd rushed my preparation, I didn't have any pre-ball routine, I didn't have any focus,” Broad told reporters following Day 3 of the final Ashes Test.
In support of his claim that playing against Yuvraj strengthened his mental fortitude, Broad cited Ben Stokes, who endured a similarly trying situation during the 2016 T20 World Cup.
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Stokes, an all-rounder, was hit for four consecutive sixes in the final over of the title match against West Indies, which Carlos Brathwaite won for the Caribbean team. But since then, Stokes has not only helped England win the ODI and T20 World Cups in 2019 and 2022, respectively, but he also rose to the position of Tests captain last year.
"I started building my 'warrior mode' that I call it after that experience. Ultimately, I wish that didn't happen. What really helped me that it was a dead rubber, so I didn't feel like I'd knocked us out of the World Cup. But I think it steeled me up to make me the competitor I am to this day, and has driven me forward a huge amount.”
“You go through massive peaks and troughs, and when you look at someone like Stokesy's (Ben Stokes) career, he's done that sort of thing as well. Ultimately, it's the bouncebackability, and that ability to be able to put poor days behind you. Certainly one thing I know over past 15 or 16 years, is that you will have more bad days than good days in cricket, so you have to deal with them to make sure your good days can flourish,” said Broad.
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