ENG vs IND | James Anderson calls for aggressive approach with the bat: Our best line of defence is to attack
India Today
England were reduced to 84/5 in 27 overs at the end of Day 2 against India. Jonny Bairstow was at the crease at the close of day’s play alongside Ben Stokes.
England were left in a tough position at the end of day 2 at Edgbaston after India’s brilliant day out with both bat and ball. Jasprit Bumrah started the day by hitting veteran pacer Stuart Broad for a record 35 runs in an over, of which 29 came off his own bat. He broke Brian Lara’s long standing record of 28 runs off South Africa spinner Robin Peterson.
After the bottom order’s exploits, India put together a total of 416 runs in the first innings, rescuing their top order from a debacle. With cloudy conditions and a lot of rain disturbing the momentum in the second day, Jasprit Bumrah’s India kept at it whenever the came out in the ground, picking up five wickets after bowling 27 overs.
The captain led from the front picking up wickets at the top, first going through the defence of left-hander Alex Lees and then edging Zack Crawley to the third slip. He also picked up the wicket of Ollie Pope.
Ahead of the game on Sunday, veteran England pacer James Anderson said that England batters would need to come out aggressively against the Indian side and try to get some ground back after getting hammered in the second day.
“The way we've got out of sticky situations is trying to put pressure back on the opposition," Anderson told reporters on Saturday. "I've got a fair feeling our best line of defence tomorrow will be attack. Our batters are naturally aggressive."
"We've got to try to work our way back in and put some pressure back on them," he added. "We're up against it, but we've been in this position before this summer."
The leading wicket-taker for England also spoke about his partner Stuart Broad, who now has the unwanted record of conceding the most number of runs in Test and T20Is.
