Veteran England pacer James Anderson backed Stuart Broad, who was on the receiving end of an unwanted record on Day 2 of the ongoing rescheduled fifth Test against India at Edgbaston on Saturday. Coming in to bat at no.10 Jasprit Bumrah made light of a bowler of Stuart Broad's calibre hitting him for four boundaries and two sixes in an over while six runs came of extras in the Edgbaston Test. In the 84th over of the match, captain Bumrah started off by hitting a boundary, hooking him into the gap for four. Next, he bowled a wayward delivery to concede five wides.
Surprisingly Broad's next ball was a no-ball which went for a six. After that Bumrah wreaked havoc hitting him for three consecutive boundaries and in the process taking India's total beyond the 400-run mark.
In the second last ball of the over the Indian captain went on to hit another six followed by a single on the last ball. Bumrah hit Broad for 29 runs and six runs in the form of extras made it 35 runs of the over.
Anderson, who took his 30th fifer in Test cricket, revealed that Broad's over wouldn't have been under discussion if one of Bumrah's shots landed into the fielder's hands and that he lacked luck.
"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," said James Anderson in a post-match press conference.
"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," he added.
England's all-time leading wicket-taker also revealed that bowling to tailenders is difficult, recalling how Mohammed Siraj attempted to hit him for a maximum.
"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 a perfect forward defence. 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 added.
England batters continued their struggle against Jasprit Bumrah's lethal pace, finishing at 60/3 at the end of the second session of the fifth and final Test against India at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Saturday.