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Harry Brook thinks that the thick Smog of Calcutta contributed to the unfortunate demonstration of England against the spin during the first T20 against India.
Vice-Capinian Brook was the first of the five drummers to die for in the Indian spinners in Eden Gardens, while tourists were eliminated for 132 on the way to an overwhelming defeat of seven counters.
Brook and Liam Livingstone fell into the space of three bullets against the brilliant Googly of Varun Chakravarthy, and said that English drummers had trouble choosing the variations of the two Indian wrists because of the Smog in Calcutta.
“I did not face [Ravi] Bishnoi but Chakravarthy is an exceptionally good, difficult to choose, “he said. “I think in fact, with the smog the other evening, it was also much more difficult to choose. Hopefully the air is a little clearer here and that we can see the ball a little more easily.
“He is an exceptional quantator and also has many skills with extreme precision. We will seek to put it under immense pressure and we hope to be able to put it in contact.
“Their spinners constitute their main threat, so we will try to put pressure on them, eliminate them, put as much pressure as possible on them, and I hope they will collapse from there.”
The air in Chennai, where the second T20 will take place on Saturday, is clearer, even if the task of England will be made more difficult by a terrain in red earth which makes that Chepauk is better known for its effects than Eden Gardens .
England has chosen not to introduce Rehan Ahmed in the XI to strengthen its rotation options, but Brydon Carse replaced Gus Atkinson, who endured a murderous night in Calcutta. Jacob Bethell missed Friday training due to illness and will probably be replaced by Jamie Smith, who would make his debut.
Brook revealed that Brendon McCullum, who took over as a chief coach all formats from England during this tour, had invited him to become vice-captain by sending him a message from the other side of hotel bar.
“We were sitting at the bar the other evening and Baz sent me a text on the other side of the play,” he said. “He just said ‘Congratulations, you are the vice-captain’ and I just put: ‘Magnificent, thank you.’ There was not really much conversation.
“Obviously, I was captain of the ODIs this summer, so I knew in a way that it was going to happen. You don’t have to do too much as vice-captain; José [Buttler] is extremely experienced, I will make some suggestions here and there and if he comes to me, I will give him my opinion but it is up to him to take it or not.
Brook said England did not need to “panic” and that he would look at clips from his first hundred Indian Premier League from 2023 as a source of inspiration.
“I was going to watch it when I got home but my phone didn’t work, so I will take a look a little later,” he said. “We are just one match, I don’t think there are too many reasons to panic. I had a break and Jos had a break and a few other guys did not chat, so it was nice to return to the field in front of an incredible crowd.
Brook cannot be qualified as better in the world as long as it has not overcome the problem with extreme rotation.
Joe Root recently said that Harry Brook was “by far the best player in the world”. Brook had just made a superb hundred in Wellington, his fourth in 12 tests in 2024, and a few days later, he exceeded Root to take the lead in the ICC ranking for the first time.
Brook’s stay only lasted a week, and Root is now back at the top. But in 2024, Brook had crossed another level, showing new levels of endurance in his epic 317 in Multan, and an even larger style and audacity in his two hundred in New Zealand. He also became a leader in a new team in England and also found his marks in ODI Cricket.
But for Root to be right, and for Brook to become the best drummer in the world, whatever the format, he has a problem to solve: his game against extreme effects.
At this point, Brook is an excellent slow bowling player – as evidenced by his first four tests in Pakistan – but not an average spin player – as evidenced by his last two tests in Pakistan. When the surfaces were slow and flat in Pakistan in 2022 and Multan last year, Brook filled his boots, intimidating the rotations and seams on his path around four narcotic centuries, including this triple. But when Pakistan turned to rabid return and called Noman Ali and Sajid Khan, Brook experienced difficulties, with 56 points in six sleeves.
Brook missed last year’s tour in India when her grandmother, Pauline, died, which means that he has not yet played tests in this country. But his white ball report is modest here, and he didn’t look comfortable against the brilliant Varun Chakravarthy on Wednesday in Calcutta, before being finally eliminated by the door. In his only IPL season, 2023, he made a hundred brilliant, but only scored 90 points in 10 other sleeves, and he also did not feel in the ODI World Cup in 2023.
Brook has all the ingredients to be an excellent spin player: ultra-fast feet, a shiny eye, wrists and rubbery hands that can be soft and full of power the next. However, at present, he is used to backing up, which opens up score options, but also offers his stumps to the spinners who aim for them. It is a method that requires work, a charge he accepts.
“Yes, absolutely,” he replied on Friday when he was asked if there was still a work in progress against the spin, as we would expect for a young age 25 years from the north of England . Rather than technical problems, Brook – rarely like taking a step back – believes that his approach requires a certain tactical moderation.
“To face the effects of the T20 cricket is probably the most difficult thing in the game, I think, especially because I always go out by trying to strike them absolutely,” he said. “Maybe I have to hold back a little, but we will see. I think I have a method. It is simply a question of trying to do it in a coherent manner and more often. I come in the intermediate order, so the first bullets I face generally turn. So if I go out earlier, it’s usually against a spinner.
Brook remains inexperienced in extreme spinning conditions and will only improve with the exhibition. This tour, faced with exceptional players, offers the ideal opportunity to do so.
