Yuvraj Singh was undoubtedly one of the finest left-handed batsmen Indian cricket has ever produced. He had played so many memorable innings during his scintillating career.
However, out of Yuvi’s greatest knocks, one innings will always remain fresh in fans’ hearts, and that is when the Punjabi batsman smashed a record-breaking 12-ball 50 against England in the 2007 World T20. During his like a bat out of hell knock, Yuvraj slammed England seamer Stuart Broad for six consecutive sixes in an over and created history.
The unbelievable record of Yuvraj still remains active as no batsmen has been able to break the feat. In T20 international only Miraz Ahsan from Austria came close when he scored a 13-ball fifty against Luxembourg in August 2019. In overall T20s, Chris Gayle for Melbourne Renegades and Hazratullah for Kabul Zwann registered a half-century off 12 deliveries. But who can break this record? Well, Yuvraj Singh has himself revealed two names who according to him, carries the potential to do so.
During a live session for a YouTube channel, Yuvraj stated that India’s star opener KL Rahul and outstanding all-rounder Hardik Pandya have all the pugnaciousness to break his fastest half-century record in the shortest format of the game.
“Two guys I thought could break the record are Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers. KL can do it, he has 50 off 14 balls in the IPL but scoring a 50 in international cricket where all are quality bowlers and in IPL where you get two quality bowlers is not the same. But KL and Hardik have the potential,” said Yuvraj on Sportscreen’s Youtube channel.
Rahul while playing for Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) came close when he slammed the fastest fifty in Indian Premier League (IPL) history. The Karnataka batsman scored a 14-ball fifty against Delhi Capitals (DC) in 2018.
The 2011 World Cup winner also heaped praises on Pandya and regarded him as someone rich with massive potential. Yuvraj reckoned that if someone works on Pandya’s mind, then he could turn out to be a crucial asset for Team India.
“Hardik Pandya has immense potential. He has got amazing talent. Someone needs to work with his head so that he can perform in crunch situations. If somebody can work on his mind, he can be a serious asset as we go to the next World Cup,” the 38-year-old added.
