‘Smog the other night, it was a lot harder to pick as well’- Harry Brook opines on England’s spin trouble in Kolkata

In the first T20I match against India at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, England’s hitters were having trouble with the fog in addition to the spin danger. The visitors, particularly India’s spinners, found it difficult to pick the ball due to the dense fog that shrouded the stadium, ultimately losing by seven wickets with forty-three balls remaining.

After scoring 17 runs off 14 balls before Varun Chakravarthy’s wrong-hander dismissed him, England vice-captain Harry Brook acknowledged that the weather contributed to his team’s batting meltdown.

Although I didn’t play Bishnoi, Chakravarthy is a very skilled bowler. He is difficult to choose. It was probably much more difficult to pick because of the haze the other night. Hopefully, we can see the ball a little more easily because the air is a little cleaner here. He bowls exceptionally well and possesses a wide range of skills with remarkable precision.

Since their main threat is their spinners, we will try to put pressure on them, defeat them, and apply as much pressure as we can on them in the hopes that they will collapse from there,” Harry Brook.

Chakravarthy took 3 for 23 in his four overs, while Ravi Bishnoi’s 0 for 22 increased the pressure as India’s spinners were at the top of their game the entire time. With the team falling from 65 for 2 to 109 for 8, the two played a crucial role in reducing the visitors to a pitiful 132. India won thanks to Abhishek Sharma’s scorching 79 off 34 balls, which made the loss much worse.

Similar difficulties have previously been encountered by England teams in India, with the 1992–1993 trip citing pollution as a contributing issue. But in recent years, the problem has gained greater attention due to events like the 2017 Test match between India and Sri Lanka, where players became unwell due to pollution, drawing attention to the cleanliness of the air in Indian towns.

England may alter their lineup in preparation for the upcoming game. After Gus Atkinson had a difficult game in Kolkata, Brydon Carse was added as a pace option. Brendon McCullum, the head coach of England, is still optimistic about his team’s capacity to recover from the defeat.