Here's why Stuart Broad called for an inhaler during the second Test against Pakistan

England flagged off their second Test against Pakistan at Southampton by delivering impressive performance with the ball on Day 1. The pace battery, led by James Anderson, managed to strike early to put the visitors under pressure. Anderson scalped the wicket of Shan Masood in the third over itself to put England in the driving seat.

Pakistan kept losing wickets at regular intervals as they finished the first day on 126/5. While Anderson scalped two wickets, the trio of Stuart Broad, Sam Curran and Chris Woakes added a wicket each under their belt.

During the first day’s play, 34-year-old Broad looked in some sort of discomfort on the field. He even called for an inhaler in his fourth over and was struggling a bit. Broad, in fact, has been suffering from asthma and he had even revealed it in 2015.

Despite the struggles, Broad bowled an excellent spell of 13-4-31-1 on the opening day of the Test. The veteran, in the previous series against West Indies, had touched the milestone of 500 Test scalps. Representing England in 141 Tests, 121 ODIs and 56 T20Is, Broad has been playing international cricket for 14 years with his half lung. He had kept his asthma hidden for many years and had revealed the secret only five years ago.

I’m asthmatic and carry an inhaler: Stuart Broad

“One night we were asked to provide a piece of information about ourselves that no one else knew, with the notion of being open with each other,” Broad had once written in the Daily Mail.

“I shocked the boys a little when I told them I only had one and a half lungs because I was born three months premature. I explained that because I was so tiny when I was born, basically at death’s door, one of my lungs never fully developed.

That’s why I’m asthmatic and carry an inhaler. It has never affected me as a sportsman, but the idea that I’ve played my entire career with half a lung less than everybody else is quite amazing when you think about it,” he had added.

After troubling the Pakistan batsmen on Day 1, Broad and other English bowlers will be aiming to restrict Pakistan to a modest total. The Joe Root-led side is leading the series 1-0 and will hope to clinch the series with a victory in the ongoing game.