England vs India | James Anderson calls for aggressive approach with bat: Our best line of defense is to attack

England were left in a difficult position at the end of Day 2 at Edgbaston after India were dismissed on a splendid day with both bat and ball. Jasprit Bumrah started the day by hitting veteran pacer Stuart Broad for a record 35 runs in an over, 29 of which came from his own bat. He broke Brian Lara’s long-time record of 28 runs off South African spinner Robin Pietersen.

After exploits from the lower order, India posted a total of 416 runs in the first innings and saved their top order from defeat. On the second day cloudy conditions and heavy rain hampered the pace, Jasprit Bumrah’s India took five wickets after bowling 27 overs whenever they got out on the field.

The captain led from the front to pick up the wicket at the top, first through the defense of left-hander Alex Lees and then sidelined Jack Crawley at third slip. He also took the wicket of Ollie Pope.

Ahead of the game on Sunday, veteran England pacer James Anderson said England’s batsmen will have to come out aggressively against the Indian team and try to get some ground back after a strong second day.

“The way we have come out of difficult situations is trying to put pressure on the opposition,” Anderson told reporters on Saturday. “I think our best line of defense tomorrow will be attack. Our batsmen are naturally aggressive.”

“We have to try to work our way back and put some pressure on them,” he said. “We are against it, but we are in this position before this summer.”

The leading wicket-taker for England also talked about his teammate Stuart Broad, who now holds the undeserved record of conceding most runs in Tests and T20Is.

“Stuart is an experienced player and I don’t think it will affect him,” Anderson said. “I thought he was a little unlucky, with the tops flying everywhere.”

“Another day one of those top edges goes into a straight hand. There was a chance at fine leg. If that is taken, no one talks about the over.”