England's Harry Brook believes Kolkata's smog was partly responsible for his side's poor batting display against spinners in the series-opening T20I against India.

Chennai: The evening smog in Kolkata made it doubly harder to pick mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy from his hand, feels England vice-captain Harry Brook, who is hoping that Chennai air will be comparatively clearer for sighting the white Kookaburra.

Harry Brook, England's vice-captain, says that his team's hopes of combatting India's spin bowlers in the first T20I were hampered by an unusual but familiar foe to English touring sides - a thick layer of smog hanging over the ground in Kolkata.

England’s Harry Brook has acknowledged the challenges he faced against spin in the first T20I against India, but also pointed to the “smog” in Kolkata as a factor in England’s underwhelming batting performance during their seven-wicket defeat.