Harry Brook's bizarre Smog Reasoning behind England's loss gets belt treatment from Indian cricket fans

England vice-captain Harry Brook has opened up about his team's struggles against Indian spinners during the first T20I of the five-match series against India. Harry Brook blamed the 'smog' hanging over the ground in Kolkata as the reason for the England batters not being able to pick spinners.

England got off to a poor start with a seven-wicket loss in the opening game of the series. The team was bowled out for just 132 runs after losing the toss. Jos Buttler scored fifty but only two other players reached double figures. Harry Brook scored 17 runs from 14 balls, including two fours and a six.

Varun Chakravarthy Named Player of the Match for Exceptional Bowling

England's batting faltered as they collapsed from 65 for 2 to 109 for 8. Varun Chakravarthy was the pick of the bowlers for India, taking 3 wickets for 23 runs in four overs. Arshdeep Singh, Hardik Pandya, and Axar Patel each took two wickets, while Ravi Bishnoi bowled an economical spell of 0 for 22.

The Suryakumar Yadav-led team chased down the target of 133 in just 12.5 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Abhishek Sharma smashed 79 runs off 34 balls, including 8 sixes and 5 fours. He shared a 41-run opening partnership with Sanju Samson. Varun Chakravarthy was named Player of the Match.

With the Smog the Other Night, It Was a Lot Harder to Pick - Harry Brook

Ahead of the second T20I in Chennai, Harry Brook said that England struggled against spinners in the first match due to the smog in Kolkata, adding that it made it harder to pick the ball. Brook expressed optimism that clearer air in the upcoming match in Chennai would improve their visibility.

"I didn't face Bishnoi but Chakravarthy is an exceptionally good bowler," he said. "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.

"He's an exceptional bowler and has got a lot of skills with extreme accuracy as well. Their spinners are their key threat, so we will look to put pressure on them, take them down, put as much pressure as we can on them, and hopefully, they crumble from there."

You Don't Have to Do Too Much as a Vice-Captain - Harry Brook

Harry Brook was recently appointed as Jos Buttler's vice-captain in the white-ball squads. Coach Brendon McCullum casually informed Brook via text at a bar, with the batter responding simply, "Beautiful, thanks." He acknowledged his role would be more supportive, offering suggestions when needed.

"We were sat in the bar the other night and Baz texted me from across the other side of the room," he said. "He just said 'Congrats, you're the vice-captain' and I just put: 'Beautiful, thanks.' There wasn't really much conversation.

"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.

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