Varun Chakravarthy has proved to be a nightmare for Harry Brook in the ongoing T20I series.
Brook is struggling to read Chakravarthy’s deliveries and has been knocked over by the mystery spinner in the first two matches for 17 and 13, respectively.
Just like the series opener in Kolkata, Brook was completely bamboozled by Chakravarthy in the second T20I at Chepauk as the latter bowled a delivery that went through the gap between bat and pad to shatter his stumps.
Brook’s dismissal in the second T20I invited him a lot of criticism, including some bit of trolling from the former Indian cricketers.
Legendary off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also joined the bandwagon and took a dig at Harry Brook for his bizarre ‘smog’ excuse after being dominated by Indian tweakers in the first T20I at the Eden Gardens.
Notably, Brook had blamed the "smog" for England's poor batting effort in Kolkata, where they were bowled out for 132.
“Chakaravarthy is an exceptionally good bowler. But with the smog the other night, it was a lot harder to pick. Hopefully, the air is a bit clearer here and we can see the ball a bit easier,” Brook had told reporters after England’s seven-wicket defeat in Kolkata.
After Brook’s second successive failure in the series, Ashwin made fun of his statement, saying that there was clear visibility in Chennai.
"There was no smog there in Chennai. Harry Brook had earlier stated that there was smog in Kolkata, so picking Varun Chakravarthy was difficult. I want to say one thing to Harry Brook: 'Please understand that Varun Chakravarthy doesn't bowl leg spin that much. It is googly'," said Ashwin on his YouTube channel 'Ash Ki Baat'.
"You moved to the leg stump and couldn't read the delivery, so you got bowled. Then you covered the stump and took a big stride, but couldn't read the googly, you got bowled again. No matter how the light is, if you are not reading the googly out of his hand, you are just not reading the delivery out of his hand," he added.
India currently hold a 2-0 lead over England in the five-match series. The third T20I will be played in Rajkot on January 28.