Chakraborty was the pick of the attack, taking 3 for 23 in his four overs, although his fellow legspinner Ravi Bishnoi was difficult to dismiss, taking 0 for 22. And speaking on the eve of the second T20I in Chennai, Brook suggested there has been an atmospheric reason for England’s struggles in choosing their variations.
“I haven’t faced Bishnoi but Chakravarthy is an exceptionally good bowler,” he said. “It’s tough to pick him. I think actually because of the fog last night, it was very tough to pick him too. Hopefully, there’s a breeze here. It’s a little clearer and we can see the ball a little easier.”
“He is an extraordinary bowler and has immense accuracy as well as a lot of skills. Their spinners are the main threat for them, so we try to put pressure on them, wear them down, put as much pressure on them as possible.” Will do, and hopefully they’ll get out there.”
This is a familiar practice for teams touring England. On his 1992–93 tour of India, Ted Dexter, then England’s chairman of selectors, famously blamed smugness for his team’s crushing defeat in the First Test at Eden Gardens. Although he was widely criticized for his comments, the issue has taken on a more serious aspect in recent years, after several players vomited during India’s Test against Sri Lanka in Delhi in 2017 due to pollution. Had to stop.
England are set to make at least one change to the XI in Chennai, with Brydon Carse included as a pace option in place of Gus Atkinson, who had a forgettable night with bat and ball in Kolkata. Jamie Smith has also been included in the 12-man squad, and could replace Jacob Bethell, who missed training on Friday due to illness.
Nevertheless, his appointment of Brook as Jos Buttler’s vice-captain is evidence of his desire to unify the red and white ball teams under a single philosophy, and with as many cross-over performers as possible. And evidence of the casual attitude that has plagued the Test team’s performance in recent seasons was in the manner with which Brook was offered the deputy role.
“We were sitting at the bar that night and Baz texted me from across the room,” he said. “He just said ‘Congratulations, you’re vice-captain’ and I just said: ‘Lovely, thank you.’ There wasn’t really much conversation.
“Obviously, I captained ODIs in the summer so I knew it was going to happen. As vice-captain you don’t need to do a lot; Jose is extremely experienced, I’ll give him some tips here. -There and if he comes to me, I will give him my opinion but it is up to him whether he takes it or not.”
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