England Harry Brook Blames Smog In Kolkata: England’s vice-captain Harry Brook says that his side’s batsmen found it difficult to pick up the variations of Indian spinners from their hand in the 1st India vs England T20I due to the smog in Kolkata.
England suffered a thumping loss in the 1st IND vs ENG T20I by 7 wickets, with India chasing down the target of 133 runs with 43 balls to spare, courtesy of Abhishek Sharma’s blistering knock of 79 runs off 34 balls. The match for India was set up, though, by their bowlers, who restricted the visitors to 132, a well-below-par score for a good batting pitch that the Eden Gardens offered.
Read Also: England Harry Brook Blames Smog in Kolkata
Varun Chakravarthy was the Man of the Match for his outstanding figures of 3/23. Three other Indian bowlers—Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, and Arshdeep Singh—took two wickets each, while Ravi Bishnoi returned with economical figures of 0/22 in four overs.
England Harry Brook Blames Smog In Kolkata
Hopefully, the air is a bit clearer in Chennai: Harry Brook
Barring Jos Buttler, who scored 68, no other England batsman could score more than 17 runs.
Speaking from Chennai, where the second T20I will be played on Saturday, Brook said that the smog in Kolkata made it a “lot harder to pick” the Indian spinners, adding that he hopes the air would be clearer in Chennai.
“I didn’t face Bishnoi, but Chakravarthy is an exceptionally good bowler. He’s tough to pick. I think actually with the smog the other night, it was a lot harder to pick as well. Hopefully, the air is a bit clearer here and we can see the ball a bit easier,” Brook said.
Brook has been usurped to England’s vice-captaincy position ahead of the India tour. Last year, he led England in five ODIs against Australia, which England lost 2-3. But Brook isn’t feeling a lot of pressure in the leadership role, and he would provide his suggestions to Buttler when needed.
“Obviously, I captained the ODIs in the summer, so I kind of knew that it was going to happen. You don’t have to do too much as a vice-captain; Jos is extremely experienced. I’ll give him a few suggestions here and there, and if he comes to me, I’ll give him my opinion, but it’s up to him whether he takes it or not,” the 25-year-old added.
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