England lost the first T20I against India on January 22, Wednesday, at the Eden Gardens. The England star player Harry Brook talked about the challenges faced against India in the first match of the series, pointing to 'smog' for the poor performance of the team.
A complete effort was seen from both Indian batters and bowlers in their win of 7 wickets against England. Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel, and Hardik Pandya exploited the plans of the opposition team batters, getting them bundled all on 132 runs.
Brook, while addressing the press conference before the second T20I against India, praised Chakaravarthy for his exceptional bowling. He also said that due to the song, it was harder to play, hoping the conditions would be good in the second T20I.
"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.”
Further, he said that facing spin in T20 cricket is the hardest thing for him, and he usually gets out while trying to smack it.
“Facing spin in T20 cricket is probably the hardest thing in the game, especially because I always get out trying to absolutely smack it. Maybe I’ve got to rein in a little bit, but we’ll see.”
The 25-year-old scored 17 runs off 14 balls, smashing two fours and a six, but got dismissed by Chakravarthy's spell. He said,
"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. 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."
India and England will be clashing with each other on January 25, Saturday, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. England will be looking forward to winning the second T20I, as currently India is leading in the series with a win in the first T20I of the series.