Happy Birthday Stuart Broad: A look at pacer's explosive spells in Test cricket

English seamer Stuart Broad is known for his penchant for explosive spells. He has been known to Indian cricket fans ever after Yuvraj Singh smashed him for 6 sixes in 2007 at the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa. After making his first international appearance during a T20I against Pakistan in 2006, the right-handed quick has come a long way and is now an integral part of the England squad. Though he featured in his maiden ODI a couple of days post his T20 debut, Broad had to wait a year before he wore the white jersey for the English brigade against Sri Lanka in December 2007. With 546 wickets in his 15-year-long Test career since then, Broad is just a few spots behind another English bowling sensation James Anderson in the tally of highest Test wicket-takers. He has also scalped 178 wickets in 121 ODIs and picked up 65 wickets in 56 T20 Internationals. Today, on his 36th birthday, let’s remember Stuart Broad’s some splendid spells in Test Cricket: 8 wickets for 15 runs against Australia in 2015: The best spell of Stuart Broad came in the 2015 Ashes when he ripped off the Aussies’ batting unit in just 9.3 overs. After the early wickets of Chris Rogers and Steve Smith in the very first over of the day, the side collapsed against Broad’s bowling prowess at just 60. The extraordinary 8-wicket haul helped England cover up the absence of Anderson. The side won by an innings and 78 runs. 7 wickets for 44 runs against New Zealand in 2013: After the iconic Lord’s ground witnessed a collapse of the England side, New Zealand had to chase down 239 runs with almost two days left in the game. Broad took charge of the attack and scalped seven wickets in 11 overs, leading his team to a massive 170-run win. His fiery spell helped England take a 2-0 lead in the series. 6 wickets for 17 runs against South Africa in 2016: At a time when South Africa was the number one Test side in the world, Broad showed no mercy and wrapped up the series with a win for England. Broad turned out to be the ruler on Johannesburg’s track in the second innings when the Proteas were eyeing to put up a tricky fourth-innings chase. After sending off opener Dean Elgar, he picked up the next four wickets at the cost of just one run. The six-wicket spell restricted the South African innings to 83 and catapulted England to a well-deserved victory. 6 wickets for 22 runs against Australia in 2013: In the 2013 Ashes series at Durham, Stuart Broad scythed through the tail of the Australian batting line-up and got six wickets to his name, including Michael Clarke. Those crucial six wickets helped England defend 299 and win the Ashes 3-0. 6 wickets for 46 runs against India in 2011: While India was batting at 267 for 4 wickets, Broad was brought in to attack with the second new ball. First, he got Yuvraj Singh. The right-arm pacer then went on to rip through the middle-to-lower order to bag the first hat-trick of his career. His fifer helped England to win the match. The side later whitewashed India 4-0 in the series.