England suffered a one-sided defeat in the first T20I against India in Kolkata on Friday, and the visiting team’s vice-captain believes the smog at the Eden Gardens created additional difficulties in reading spinner Varun Chakrabortywho took three wickets. However, Brook hopes better conditions in Chennai during the second T20I at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday will take care of that issue.
“Chakaravarthy is an exceptionally good bowler. But with the smog the other night (in Kolkata), it was a lot harder to pick (him). Hopefully, the air is a bit clearer here (Chennai) and we can see the ball a bit easier,” Brook told ‘Daily Telegraph’.
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“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.
Brook made 17 in the first match of the series, before being cleaned up by Chakravarthy.
But a couple of seasons ago in the IPL, Brook took the attack to Chakravarthy while he was bowling for Kolkata Knight Riders in their match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), which saw the England batter hitting a century.
He would, thus, hope to put the disappointment of the first T20I behind against a familiar opponent and potentially replicate his earlier success.
“I was going to watch it (innings for SRH) on the way in (to Friday’s practice session), but my phone wouldn’t work, so I’ll have a look a little bit later,” he added.
Chakravarthy took crucial wickets of Jos Buttler (68), Brook and Liam Livingstone (0) in India’s convincing seven-wicket win.
“Maybe I’ve got to rein in a little bit, but we’ll see. I think I do have a method (to tackle spinners). It’s just trying to do it consistently and more often. I come in the middle order, so the first few balls I face are usually of spin,” Brook said.
