Stuart Broad certain Ben Stokes will recover from World Twenty20 heartbreak

Broad became the first bowler in the history of Twenty20 cricket to be hit for six sixes in an over

England all-rounder Ben Stokes (Getty)

If anyone is well placed to give Ben Stokes sound advice on how to deal with his World T20 heartache it is Stuart Broad.

Stokes is now home and coming to terms with a final over that saw Carlos Brathwaite hit four successive sixes to carry the West Indies to a dramatic victory in Sunday’s tournament finale in Kolkata.

With their opponents needing 19 to win from the last six balls, England were within touching distance of sealing only their second major global limited-overs title. In Stokes they had a death bowler who had excelled previously in the tournament and a player whose precocious ability with both bat and ball has made him a superstar of his sport at the age of 24.

But four swings of Brathwaite’s bat brought the Durham all-rounder’s world crashing down around him.

Such an experience will no doubt have a big impact on Stokes.

Broad, though, believes it doesn’t necessarily need to be a negative one and he should know having undergone a similar ordeal in the inaugural World T20 in 2007 when, at the age of 21, he became the first bowler in the history of the format to be hit for six sixes in an over, India’s Yuvraj Singh the architect of his humiliation.

Nine years on, those half-dozen deliveries are but a footnote to a hugely-successful career that now sees Broad ranked as the world’s No1 Test bowler.

So if Stokes listens to anyone on how to come to terms with his own moment of infamy, it should be Broad.

Ben Stokes is comforted after the World T20 final (Getty)

“I felt hugely for Ben,” he says. “He took responsibility for bowling the last over and 90 times out a hundred, with 19 to win, the bowling side are winning that. But it was great hitting from Carlos.

“It’s a tough thing to deal with for Ben and I’m probably the closest in terms of having an experience like that he could speak to about it. “Yes, mine wasn’t in a World Cup final but it was on the world stage and the mindset I came out with from my experience was that it didn’t make me a bad bowler. And four balls don’t make Ben a bad bowler either.

“While he’s sitting at home what he will have to do is remember in his own mind how he was feeling, what would he do differently if he is in that situation again? Was he rushed and did he take advice from the wrong people?

“Then he’s got to decide all of that in his own mind, find the answers and put it to bed. You park it. You don’t watch it again and you never talk about it again until you finish playing. You just focus on what you can do to improve.”

Broad believes Stokes should also take inspiration from other sportsman who have overcome heartbreak to dominate their field.

He cites golfer Rory McIIroy, whose final-round meltdown at the 2011 Masters at Augusta – including a horror shot that ended up in the water on the 13^th hole – saw him squander the chance to land his first Major.

The Northern Irishman recovered to win the US Open two months later and now, ahead of this week’s Masters, has four Majors to his name.

“Every great sportsman has had the low points before they have reached great heights,” said Broad. “I think the biggest example would be Rory McIlroy. There’s that famous image of him duck hooking at the Masters into the water and he leant on his driver as if he was completely distraught. There were questions about whether he would ever recover but I couldn’t tell you how many majors he’s won now.

“This will be the test for Stokesy. Will he be able to learn from it, park it off, put it to the back of his mind and improve and win? I 100 per cent think he will.

Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes in training during last summer's Ashes series (Getty)

“He’s got big shoulders and good people around him. When it happened to me Luke Wright said to me ‘it could have happened to someone worse.’ “He knew I was a strong character and could bounce back from it. And it could have happened to a lot worse people than Stokesy.

“Who’s to say he won’t get a hundred in the first Test of the summer? That’s the great thing about sport. Until you retire you will always have another chance to put it right.”

Few doubt Stokes, like Broad before him, will do anything other than that in the months and years ahead.