England pacer James Anderson, on Saturday (2nd July). shared his thoughts on Stuart Broad bowling the most expensive over in Test cricket. Broad went for 35 runs in that unfortunate over with India captain Jasprit Bumrah scoring 29 of those off his bat.
Anderson called Stuart Broad pretty unlucky pointing out that there were plenty of top edges went for boundaries.
Indian stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah stole the limelight in his first outing as the captain. However, what was surprising was that this time he made the headlines with his batting ability.
The Indian pace spearhead created the world record for scoring most runs in an over in Test as he smashed Broad for 35 runs in Edgbaston, helping his side cross the 400-run mark.
It was the 84th over of the Indian innings when Bumrah started off with three consecutive boundaries. He smashed him 29 runs while six runs came in the form of extras, which made it 35 runs of the over.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, James Anderson, who took a five-wicket haul, said that it was pretty unlucky for Broad as there were plenty of top edges that went for boundaries. He said that skipper Ben Stokes and the pacer had the right plan but the luck wasn’t in their favor.
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"Yeah, it is just one of those things. On another day one of those top edges goes straight to hand. If that gets taken nobody talks about the over. I thought it was pretty unlucky.
“There are plenty of top edges, and a couple of good shots but that's the plan Ben wanted Broady to go with. Broady stuck to it and on another day when the luck was with Stuart an edge probably would have gone to hand,” James Anderson said.
Anderson quipped that it’s easier to bowl at top-order batters than tailenders. He cited the example of Mohammed Siraj and said that bowlers need to back themselves while bowling to them.
“Sometimes it can be easier to bowl at top-order bats, to be honest. I do remember a few balls to Siraj: he tried to hit two out of the ground and the next one played perfect forward defense. It can be tricky to get into a rhythm against them. You've just got to try and back yourself that your best ball will get them out eventually," he said.
Coming to the match, after India posted a total of 416 runs on the board, Bumrah took his side off the flier with the ball as he took three quick wickets to put England under pressure. Mohammad Shami and Mohammed Siraj too chipped in as they reduced the hosts to 84/5 at Stumps on Day 2.
(ANI inputs)
