The England-West Indies final in Kolkata will be long remembered for those four balls which turned the world upside down for two talented all-rounders.
For Carlos Brathwaite, the four sixes not only clinched the World T20 title for the West Indies from a hopeless situation, but also provided some solace to the team that had been hurt by months of skirmishes with their board.
The title is unlikely to make all the issues go away but at least the Caribbean players can bask in the glory of one of the greatest results in T20 history, thanks largely to Brathwaite’s out-of-the-stadium hitting.
But there is also the bowler who was hit for four straight sixes in a World T20 final with 19 runs to play with by a lower-order batsman with hardly any big-hitting reputation prior to the tournament.
Ben Stokes is one of most talented players in the world at the moment and poised to become one of the finest all-rounders of contemporary cricket.
During his five-year international career, he has scored three Test tons – including a rollicking 258 against South Africa – hit four ODI fifties, taken 57 scalps in 23 Tests and 36 wickets in 39 ODIs.
In T20 cricket, his bowling turned out to be more effective than his batting, with his effectiveness during the death overs making things difficult for the rivals during the World T20. But when it mattered the most against the Windies, it all fell apart.
The first ball Stokes bowled to Brathwaite in that fateful final over was poor – full and down the leg side. But the next two were more than decent – swinging, full and right on the stumps. How Brathwaite managed to hit those down the ground still baffles me. But he did and with it, Stokes and England’s dreams were mercilessly crushed.
Battered, bruised but unbowed, @benstokes38 will stand up to be counted again: https://t.co/4cNqsocBQm #topman pic.twitter.com/fg6RFSSec8
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) April 8, 2016
After the match, England captain Eoin Morgan said that while the entire team is with Stokes, he will take time to come to terms with what happened at the Eden Gardens. The sound of those sixes will be etched deep on the psyche of Stokes and how he copes with it will define the rest of his career.
There are two other bowlers who were at the receiving end of such decisive sixes at the big stage but their career graphs took distinct turns after those games.
First, there was India seamer Chetan Sharma. That he became the first bowler to claim hat-trick in a World Cup – in the 1987 edition against the Kiwis – is not a fact that pops into the minds of Indian fans when his name is mentioned.
What he is remembered for even now is being hit for a six off the last ball of final of the Australasia Cup in Sharjah in 1986. It was an India-Pakistan clash, no less, with Pakistan needing four runs from the final ball, the Indians were almost home.
But Javed Miandad had other plans, a low full toss from Sharma deposited over the midwicket fence. The legend of Miandad was well and truly established while Sharma’s cricketing stocks plummeted.
While he remained a part of the team for a few more years, making some striking contributions with the bat in limited overs cricket, his bowling was never the same. Despite the World Cup hat-trick, the ‘last-ball six’ tag has stayed with Sharma ever since.
There is another bowler who had to undergo similar pain of hits over the fence.
Overwhelmed by all the support of everyone after a disappointing last over.....So proud to of represented my country in a World Cup final...
— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) April 3, 2016
To everyone who has supported us thank you very much you've been awesome...congrats to the West Indies on winning a great final
— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) April 3, 2016
Stuart Broad was only in his second season in international cricket when he was picked for the 2007 World T20. The tournament had taken the globe by storm, T20’s riveting action capturing the imagination of fans who were getting tired of Tests and even one-day matches.
With the eyes of fans from all nations on the tournament, Broad was taken to the cleaners by Yuvraj Singh, who hit him for six sixes in one over in the 2007 World T20.
Broad wasn’t even first bowler to be hit for six sixes in an over in international cricket – Herschelle Gibbs had done the same to Daan van Bunge of the Netherlands during the 50-over showpiece event a few months back. But the occasion and impact of those blows on India’s ultimately triumphant campaign and the subsequent proliferation of T20 cricket meant Broad was now a part of history for unflattering reasons.
But Broad, as it turns out, is made of much sterner stuff. He has been a part of four Ashes series winning England sides, forming a lethal new ball partnership with James Anderson and tormenting batsmen all over the world in the five-day format.
His limited overs career has not been a stellar one but even so, 178 wickets from 121 ODIs at an economy of 5.26 and 65 wickets from 56 T20s at an economy of 7.62 is a record any bowler who was hit for six sixes at the world stage should be proud of.
How Stokes recovers from the Brathwaite assault will decide if he becomes the next Sharma or Broad. While he will get the support of his team-mates, ultimately he will have to take it on the chin and move on to his next challenge.
Stokes has hit rock-bottom. But when you reach that point, the only way is up. I hope he looks at it that way.
