Yuvraj Singh celebrates his six sixes in an over against England in the T20 WC.

Yuvraj Singh Video of 6 Sixers in over & Fastest Fifty in Twenty20
Durban: Indian batting star Yuvraj Singh has always exuded the kind of confidence that champions possess and it was only a matter of time that he carved out a niche for himself in world cricket.

But few would have imagined that his name would go down in the annals as the first man to hit six sixes in Twenty20 cricket. The likes of Shahid Afridi and Justin Kemp were bigger names when it came to the kind of bludgeoning one would relate to such a possibility.

Yuvraj, 25, has never been a slogger but still whacks the ball real hard.

"I any day prefer to play in the 'V', Yuvraj had said before the start of the Twenty20 World Championship, referring to the direction from the batsman's bat that coaching manuals teach you to hit in at the beginning of the innings.

And though he sent the ball in all directions in that Stuart Broad over, they were all authentic shots.

Yuvraj was known for his sixes as a junior cricketer too and as a young player in Ranji Trophy, people were known to drive down miles to see him bat at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) stadium in Mohali.

The son of talented cricketer Yograj Singh, a contemporary of the legendary Kapil Dev, cricket was in his genes though as a young boy he preferred skating to the country's most popular game.

Yograj, also a film actor who has starred in dozens of Punjabi films, gave his sons the early lessons but was apparently not watching the match when his son smashed those sixes.

Yograj used to say some years ago that he wanted his son to get 10,000 runs in Tests and though Yuvraj has yet to even cement a place in the Test team, the feat at Kingsmead will always be remembered.

"I just went in knowing that we had to get as many runs as possible. After I got those four sixes, I realised that I had chance to get all six. I went after the fifth one and then prayed to God," said Yuvraj, who had got hit for five sixes in an over by Dimitri Mascarenhas of England just two weeks prior to achieving the feat.

"I felt really bad after being hit for those sixes and know what Stuart must be going through, after all he is a specialist bowler," said Yuvraj, one of the senior members of the Twenty20 side after Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid opted out of the tournament.

"It feels great to be counted along with Sir Gary Sobers to have hit six sixes," said Yuvraj, who has figured in 183 ODIs for India but has got to play just 19 Tests so far.

The fearless batsman did not mince words in criticising the media for coming down heavily on him after just a few failures.

"I don't know what you guys want from me. It is as if I am expected to go out there and get runs every time," said Yuvraj, who has been playing for India for over six years now.

"I will walk away the day I feel I am a liability in the team," he said.

But that is too early a statement for someone like Yuvraj to make because he still has miles to go before he justifies his potential.