Continued England tour of India 2025 saw England's vice-captain Harry Brook he faces difficulties adjusting to the Indian spinners, in particular Varun Chakraborty. After being dismissed by Chakravarthy in the first and second T20I, Brook made a strange comment about his first dismissal. England's batsmen blamed “fog” for failing to decide Chakravarthy's delivery in the opening match at the Eden Gardens. However, the former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin He criticized Brook for making excuses.
Harry Brook is up against Varun Chakravarthy
In the eighth over of the first T20I at Eden Gardens, Brook faced Chakravarthy, who was brought in for his secret. Chakravarthy pulled the hair around the stump, and Brook tried to push it down. However, his effort failed as he only managed an inside edge which rattled his pads and he ended up rolling to hit the stumps. Brook was bowled for 17 off 14 balls, with four fours and a six.
After being fired, Brook was quick to offer an excuse, saying that the fog in Kolkata made it difficult for him to get the goods. “I got sacked because of the fog,” Brook said, apparently unable to read the ball because of the weather.
The next match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai saw Brook's poor performance against the Indian spinner. In the seventh over of England's innings, Chakravarthy bowled another delivery that fooled Brookwhich led to his second dismissal by the same pitcher in as many games. This time, the ball landed and spun so hard, Brook was slow to react. It went between his bat and pad, smashing the stumps. He was out for 13 off 8 balls, one four and a six. The inconsistency with which Chakravarthy bowled Brook highlighted the difficulties he faced against the spinner's variations.
Ravichandran Ashwin criticizes Brook's 'Fog' excuse
Former India all-rounder Ashwin criticized Brook for blaming the Kolkata fog for his dismissal in the first T20I, and said there was no such reason in the second T20I in Chennai. He said that his dismissal was more due to his inability to read the spinner's bowling than any external circumstances. Ashwin advised Brook to note that Chakravarthy relies on googlies rather than leg spin, meaning that Brook should focus on adapting to Chakravarthy's style.
“There was no smoke in Chennai. So, Harry Brook said he came out because of the smoke in Eden Gardens. I just want to say one thing to Harry Brook – 'Harry Brook, remember this Varun Chakravarthy doesn't spin leg very much, his main powers are googlies only.Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Also READ: IND vs ENG, 2nd T20I: This is how Gautam Gambhir's control helped Tilak Verma to play the winning knock.
Brook misreads Chakravarthy's googlies
Ashwin went on to highlight Brook's repeated mistakes, adding that in the first T20I, Brook moved onto leg stump and was bowled by a googly. The former Indian cricketer also emphasized that reading Chakravarthy's hand to detect the googly is important, adding that lighting or external appearance will not matter if the batsmen cannot detect the spinner's delivery.
“Brook moved down the leg and out of Eden Gardens. Again, he covered the stumps and went forward, misread the googly and lost the stumps in Chennai. If you see his hand, you can read the googly. It doesn't matter what the light is like, if you can't see the googly coming, you can't play it,” concluded Ashwin.