England star batter Harry Brook felt that the Kolkata smog made it extremely difficult to pick out Indian spinners in the first T20I loss at Eden Gardens.
Indian bowlers restricted England 132 all out in 20 overs on Wednesday with the spin trio of Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi and Axar Patel restricting the run flow and forcing errors from the visitors. Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya contributed to the win by claiming two wickets each.
Varun was picked off the bowlers with 3-23 as he sent back the power-hitting trio of Jos Buttler, Brook and Liam Livingstone. The wrist spinner got the wickets of Brook and Livingstone in the eighth over which stopped England from gaining any momentum.
Brook, who was appointed Buttler’s deputy ahead of the series, said that the smog was partly responsible for their troubles against Varun.
“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,” Brook told reporters ahead of the second T20I in Chennai.
“Facing spin in T20 cricket is probably the hardest thing in the game, especially because I always get out trying to absolutely smack it,” Brook said about his T20 game.
In the sub-continental conditions, Brook has played 17 T20 games including T20Is, Indian Premier League and Pakistan Super League and scored 502 runs at a strike rate of 167. Off the eight dismissals in 14 innings in these matches, pacers have got Brook’s wickets on six occasions while spinners got him out three times.
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“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,” said the youngster who has been bought by Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2025 auction.
The 25-year-old felt that England needs to keep pushing so that they can execute their game plan under head coach Brendon McCullum.
“We just need to keep pushing, the same messaging Baz has been saying throughout. We need to look to put pressure on their bowlers and try to take wickets throughout their innings. You’ve always got to go a little bit above and beyond to exceed,” Brook said.
The second T20I between India and England will be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Saturday.
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