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England’s newly-appointed white-ball vice-captain Harry Brook has finally broken silence on the team’s disappointing outing in the series opener at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday, January 22. Notably, the Suryakumar Yadav-led Indian team outplayed the Three Lions, chasing a target of 133 runs in 12.5 overs, with seven wickets in hand to go 1-0 up in the five-match T20I series.
Days after the defeat, Jos Buttler’s deputy blamed smog in Kolkata as the reason behind England’s failure. The England batter cited Eden Gardens’ hazy conditions for complicating matters in the first T20I, while hoping that things will be much better in Chennai. Brook was the first England batter to fall to Chakravarthy as the Indian spinner castled him via bat and pad.
Harry Brook blames smog for England’s failure in first T20I against India
Speaking ahead of the second T20I, which is scheduled to be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Saturday, January 25, Brook said, "Chakaravarthy is an exceptionally good bowler. But with the smog the other night, it was a lot harder to pick. Hopefully the air is a bit clearer here and we can see the ball a bit easier."
"Facing spin in T20 cricket is probably the hardest thing in the game, especially because I always get out trying to absolutely smack it," he said. "Maybe I've got to rein in a little bit, but we'll see. I think I do have a method. It's just trying to do it consistently and more often. I come in in the middle order, so the first few balls I face are usually off spin," he continued.
The middle-order batter further admitted that he isn’t good against spin, adding, "If I get out early, it's usually against a spinner, so maybe my stats aren't as good against spin, but there's always going to be criticism in some parts."
Speaking of the match, Harry Brook made 17 runs off 14 deliveries before being out by Varun Chakaravarthy. Jos Buttler was the sole batter from the visiting team to exceed 20 runs, scoring 68 off 44 deliveries. On the other hand, Abhishek Sharma was the standout performer with the bat for the hosts, amassing 79 runs off 34 deliveries, whereas Varun Chakaravarthy starred with the ball, picking up three wickets at an economy of 5.80.