IND vs ENG: Ravichandran Ashwin urges Harry Brook to stop making excuses after back-to-back dismissals by Varun Chakravarthy
In progress England tour of India 2025 saw the England captain Harry Brook they face challenges in adapting to the Indian spinners, esp Varun Chakravarthy. After being dismissed by Chakravarthy in both the first and second T20Is, Brook made a rather unusual claim about his first dismissal. The England batsman blamed ‘fog’ for his failure to pick Chakravarthy’s delivery during the match opener at the Eden Gardens. However, the former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin brushed Brook over the excuse.
Harry Brook takes on Varun Chakravarthy
In the eighth over of the first T20I at the Eden Gardens, Brook faced Chakravarthy, who had been brought in for his mysterious spin. Chakravarthy hit around the stumps and Brook tried to push him down the ground. However, his attempt failed as he managed only an inside edge that hit his pads and ended up rolling back to hit the stumps. Brook was dismissed for 17 off 14 balls, with two fours and a six.
After the dismissal, Brook quickly offered an apology, claiming that the fog in Kolkata made it difficult for him to pick up the shipment. “I got sacked because of the fog,” Brook said, seemingly attributing his inability to read the ball to the weather.
The next game at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai saw another poor performance from Brook against the Indian spinner. In the seventh over of the English innings, Chakravarthy bowled another delivery that fooled Brookleading to his second shutout by the same pitcher in as many games. This time the ball fell and turned sharply, and Brook was late in reacting. It slipped through the gap between his bat and pads, crushing the stumps. He was out for 13 off 8 balls, with one four and one six. The consistency with which Chakravarthy dismissed Brook highlighted the batsman’s continuing difficulty in dealing with the spinner’s variations.
Ravichandran Ashwin criticizes Brook’s ‘Mist’ pronunciation
Former India spinner Ashwin criticized Brook for blaming the fog in Kolkata for his dismissal in the first T20I, pointing out that there was no such excuse in the second T20I in Chennai. He suggested that his dismissals were more due to his inability to read the bowling ball than external conditions. Ashwin advised Brook to keep in mind that Chakravarthy primarily relies on googlies rather than leg-spin, suggesting that Brook should focus on adapting to Chakravarthy’s bowling style.
“There was no smog in Chennai. So Harry Brook said he came out because of the smog at Eden Gardens. I just want to say one thing to Harry Brook – ‘Harry Brook, keep this in mind that Varun Chakravarthy doesn’t bowl much leg spin, his main strength is just googlies”, Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
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Brook’s misinterpretation of Chakravarthy’s googlies
Ashwin went on to point out Brook’s repeated mistakes, adding that in the first T20I, Brook went towards the leg stump and was hit by a googling. The former Indian cricketer further emphasized that reading Chakravarthy’s hand to identify the googly is crucial, adding that lighting or external conditions will not matter if the batsman cannot decode the spinner’s deliveries.
“Brook headed for leg stump and was dismissed at Eden Gardens. He covered the stumps again and went on the front foot, didn’t read the googly and lost the stumps in Chennai. If you can see his hand, you can read the googly. It doesn’t matter what the light is, if you can’t see the googly coming, you won’t be able to play it,Ashwin concluded.
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