India’s T20 World Cup 2007 fixture against England is known for Yuvraj Singh’s heroics as he created history by hitting Stuart Broad for 6 sixes in an over, becoming the first-ever batter to achieve the feat in the shortest format.

Yuvraj slammed a jaw-dropping 14-ball 58 which proved to be the difference between the two sides as India won the match by 18 runs.

While making an appearance on Matthew Hayden’s All Over Bar the Cricket podcast, Broad reflected on that forgettable night in Durban when he faced the wrath of Yuvraj’s willow.

Broad acknowledged that it was a low point in his career – but one that only allowed him to grow and improve as a bowler in coming years. He eventually finished his career with 604 Test wickets, 178 ODI wickets and 65 T20I scalps.

“I wish it never happened, but weirdly, it was the making of me, in a sense,” said Broad.

“You know that awful saying from sports, take the positives, I hate that saying. But in that moment, the positives were, we were already out of the World Cup. It was a dead rubber, we already had our flights booked for the next morning to go. I was 19 or 20 at the time, South Africa had played before us, it was a doubleheader on the same ground. When I look back, preparation was non-existent from me," he added.

“We had 20 minutes between games to get ready, only had time to mark one end, and that was the other end. Immediately when I got asked to bowl that over I was scrambled, thinking where am I. Thinking about other things away from what's my field, what delivery am I going to bowl. I'm thinking about run-ups in a World Cup game.”

“When I reflect on it, my preparation was very poor, I didn't attach anything to what ball I was going to bowl. I didn't get myself in the right headspace for an international fixture,” he further remarked.

The cricketer-turned-broadcaster went on to explain that this low phase prompted him to make changes and improvements in his game at an early age.

“At that stage I've only played seven or eight ODIs, haven't played a Test by then. I've got the long blond hair, thinking I've got a bit going on here. And then smacked in the face, as hard as you go,” he stated.

“I think how the rhythm of sport goes, you start off really well and then by 26-27, you think you've made it and stop doing things with real dedication. You just drop off a bit, your firm's not as good, maybe you get dropped. Then you come back at 31 when the penny has dropped, and you boss the next five years.”

“For me, that slap in the face came at 20-21, so I didn't waste five years going I need to get better, I need to learn this delivery. I built this structure around my game called warrior mode, that connected everything around preparation to get it right,” he elaborated.

“By the time I was actually 25-26, I was where I wanted to be as an elite performer. I knew when I bowled crap, when my body language was bad how to get it back. So although it was an awful experience, it didn't cost us the World Cup cause we were already out,” he continued.

Broad suggested that he may not have had an illustrious career if not for that setback against Yuvraj in Durban.

“Of course I wish it didn't happen. But then I look back and think maybe if it didn't happen, I would have floated around for five years thinking I'm pretty cool, and not had the career that I have had,” he concluded.