It has been almost two decades since that over in Durban — and yet the six sixes Yuvraj Singh hit off Stuart Broad in the 2007 T20 World Cup still generate fresh stories every few months. The latest came on a cricket podcast and it is as charming as cricket folklore gets.

The Over That Split Two Careers in Very Different Directions

The date was September 19, 2007. India faced England in the Super Eight stage of the inaugural ICC World T20 in Durban. Earlier in the match, Andrew Flintoff had exchanged words with Yuvraj Singh after he was dismissed — and when the 19th over began, Yuvraj, still seething, was on strike with Broad running in.

Six balls. Six sixes. 36 runs. An over that has been watched, rewatched and dissected more than almost any other in T20 history.

India won. Yuvraj became T20 folklore. Broad — then just 21 years old, inexperienced in the format — carried the weight of that over for years. Yuvraj acknowledged how difficult it was, but also how extraordinary Broad’s response to it eventually became.

“I just thought that he was inexperienced in T20s, which is understandable. From there, he became a legendary fast bowler and picked up more than 600 Test wickets. He turned that moment into power. For anyone else, their career might have been over.”

Chris Broad’s Christmas Gift — and Stuart’s Response

The jersey story had first surfaced in October 2025 when Chris Broad, himself a former ICC match referee, revealed the episode to The Telegraph. He had asked Yuvraj to sign an Indian shirt and gave it to Stuart as a Christmas present.

“I got Yuvraj to sign an Indian shirt and gave it to him for Christmas. Apparently, he opened the present, saw it, and threw it in the bin. I think he had a bit of a sense of humour failure over that.”

Now Yuvraj, speaking on The Overlap Cricket podcast with Michael Vaughan, has revealed for the first time that he knew exactly what the message on that shirt said — because he wrote it himself.

“Stuart’s dad, Chris Broad, was the match referee for the India-Australia match. He came and told me, ‘You almost finished my son’s career.’ I told him, ‘Sir, I have been hit for five sixes myself; I know how it feels.’ He said, ‘You need to sign a shirt for Stuart.’ So, on my India shirt, I wrote: ‘I have been hit for five sixes. I know how it feels. I hope you go on to become the best.’”

“I read recently that when Chris gave him that shirt, he threw it in the bin. He was so angry, and it is so acceptable.”

Yuvraj had previously been hit for five sixes in an over by Andrew Symonds during the 2003 ICC World Cup — the empathy in his shirt message was entirely genuine.

The Other Side of the Story — Yuvraj’s Cancer Battle

The podcast also went somewhere much darker. Yuvraj, speaking with characteristic openness, recalled the moment in 2011 when the word “cancer” entered his life — right at the peak of his powers, just months after his Player of the Tournament performance in the 2011 ODI World Cup.

“It was hard to accept. At the peak of your career, you’re on top of a mountain and then you fall into a ditch. I was in Delhi. We were going on tour to the West Indies and England. Ganguly had retired and my Test spot had just opened. I was waiting seven years for that spot. I said, ‘I don’t care if I die, I need that spot.’ But I got sicker and sicker.”

“Dr Nitesh Rohatgi said to me, ‘The tumour is sitting between your heart and lung. Either you go and play cricket or you might have a heart attack. You’ve got three to six months left to live if you don’t do chemotherapy.’ That’s when I realised I needed to think.”

He underwent chemotherapy in the United States and returned to international cricket in 2012 — a comeback that carried a significance far beyond sport.

A Friendship the Dustbin Couldn’t Ruin

What makes the jersey story so layered is that Broad did not stay angry forever. He went on to become arguably England’s greatest modern seam bowler — 604 Test wickets, champion of three Ashes series, and ultimately knighted upon his retirement. The over in Durban became the defining story of the first chapter of his career — and the spur for everything that came after.

Yuvraj, 20 years on, holds no grudge about the dustbin. If anything, he sounds proud.

“He turned that moment into power.”