Stuart Broad's top 3 performances in the Pataudi Trophy

From being known as the bowler who got hit for six sixes in an over by Yuvraj Singh to becoming one of the all-time greatest pace bowlers to in the longest format of the game, Stuart Broad has come a long way in his 15-year career. Forming a lethal duo with James Anderson, the two quicks have terrorized batsmen throughout their careers, especially in England.

However, some teams are more of a favorite than others. Stuart Broad loves bowling against India in English conditions. On the backdrop of the rescheduled fifth Test of the 2021 Pataudi Trophy, let’s have a look at his top three performances against India in England.

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#3. 4-53, third Test, Birmingham (August 10 - 13, 2011)

Already 2-0 down in the series, the Indian team struggled to find any ground in England to put up a fight. They had two matches to salvage some pride before going home. However, the English pace attack was in no mood to let this Indian team off the hook.

The home side immediately put the visitors in trouble, winning the toss and choosing to field, with Stuart Broad getting Virender Sehwag out for a golden duck. The delivery that nipped back was too good for Sehwag as it touched his glove and was comfortably caught by Matt Prior behind the stumps.

Broad went ahead to get the prized wicket of Sachin Tendulkar, forcing him to drive outside the off stump and get a knick down to third slip. While he went wicketless for a few overs post this breakthrough, he teased Amit Mishra with a full delivery just outside off which was poorly driven by the tail-ender, putting the Indian side at a precarious 111-7.

He got another crucial wicket, that of MS Dhoni, who was counter-attacking the English bowling aggressively at 77 off 96. A pitched-up delivery found the keeper-batter's edge and went to skipper Andrew Strauss at first slip, ending a lone-man innings from the Indian captain, taking the total almost single-handedly to 224-9.

Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan both took four-wicket hauls to restrict India to a below-par total. Alastair Cook batted India out of the match with a legendary 294 and England won the Test by an innings.

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#2. 6-25, 4th Investec Test, Manchester (August 07 - 09, 2014)

The 2014 Pataudi Trophy was level at 1-1 at this stage, heading into the fourth Test in Manchester. The tourists won the toss and opted to bat first, which turned out to be a poor decision in hindsight as they collapsed to a measly 152 all-out.

Within the blink of an eye, the Indian team found itself at an embarrassing 8-4, on the verge of registering the lowest test total in the history of Test cricket. Broad got the first scalp off a delivery that climbed sharply and got a thick edge to the fielder at gully.

Stuart Broad’s long-time strike partner James Anderson dismissed Murali Vijay and Virat Kohli within three deliveries, getting both the ace batsmen for a duck. He ended this period of early turmoil by taking out reliable batsman Cheteshwar Pujara for a duck.

The rest of the innings was a battle between Broad’s dominance and Dhoni’s perseverance, with the former troubling every batsman that was coming, and the latter single-handedly keeping his team’s prestige alive.

Broad took the wicket of Ravichandran Ashwin off a mistimed pull, ending his entertaining innings of 40 off 42 balls. From there on, Broad cleaned up the tail by removing Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Pankaj Singh, but not before taking Dhoni’s wicket from a mistimed shot towards deep square-leg.

Despite getting injured during England's first innings and not bowling in the second Indian innings, Broad won the 'Man of the Match' for his exemplary 6-25 in Manchester.

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#1. 64 and 6-46, 2nd Test, Nottingham, July 29 (August 01, 2011)

After being demolished in the first Test at Lords’, India came to Nottingham with a vengeance to get back at the home side.

The visitors started the game strongly, getting England down to a disastrous 117-7, before Stuart Broad scored a stupendous 64 runs off just 66 balls to get England to a relatively respectable 221 all-out. However, the score looked low compared to the might of the Indian batting lineup, and a magical spell was needed to ensure the Indians don’t run away with the game.

At 119-2, India were in cruise control before Stuart Broad took the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar, edging his cut shot to first slip. This did not harm the visitors too much as they carefully dragged their way to 267-4 as centurion Rahul Dravid and maverick Yuvraj Singh were keen to put the Indians level 1-1 in the series.

At this point, Stuart Broad’s delivery outside off with the new ball got southpaw Yuvraj Singh out, opening the floodgates to a typical Indian batting collapse. India fell from 267-4 to 273-6 to 273-9, losing five wickets for zero runs in a span of three overs.

Broad ran through MS Dhoni and the tail, and Bresnan got the wicket of Rahul Dravid. He finished the innings off at 288 all-out with a bouncer to Ishant Sharma, putting England back in the game.

The home side went on to score a mammoth 544 in the second innings, at which point India had no way back into the game, losing the match by 319 runs. India never recovered from Stuart Broad's spell at the death of the innings, and his bowling performance along with his brilliant 64 with the bat won him the 'Man of the Match'.