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England legend and former cricketer Ben Stokes hailed Harry Brook following his magnificent century, remarking that not "even the genius of Kevin Pietersen could come close to what Brook has talent-wise".
Brook, the white-ball captain, continues to be a gift that keeps on giving, smashing an explosive 114* in 49 balls against Sri Lanka in the first T20I at Southampton on Tuesday. Brook, who has faced some comparisons with the team's current specialist mentor and former batter Pietersen due to their aggressive style of play, left his former Test captain in awe of his batting, leading him to produce a bold Brook-Pietersen take. Posting on X, Stokes called Brook "an absolute freak" and someone who is "mint to watch". "I dont even think the genius of KP could come close to what Harry Brook has talent-wise. Is it really that hard to just sit back and admire these players for what they are, on the good days and the bad days, and stop berating them for doing things that we would never, ever, ever even think of doing because we simply arent on their level to think that way? You are an absolute freak, Harry. Youre mint to watch," posted Stokes on X. https://x.com/benstokes38/status/2099940730592723373 Later, replying to his post, he added, "Bit harsh on KP actually both are freak talents but Brook better IMO is my point" https://x.com/benstokes38/status/2099944332790771893 Brook, with two T20I centuries, 10 Test tons, and three ODI tons, is now the second Englishman after Buttler to have multiple centuries across all international formats. Notably, Buttler has two centuries each in Tests and T20Is and 11 tons in ODIs. The other batters to have multiple centuries across all international formats are: Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul (India), Babar Azam (Pakistan), Chris Gayle (West Indies), Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill (New Zealand) and Quinton de Kock (South Africa). Brook's shift to number three after an indifferent run in this year's T20 World Cup continues to pay dividends. In eight matches and innings in T20Is at number three, he has made 476 runs at an average of 95.20 and a strike rate of 200.84, with two centuries and fifties each. In 69 T20Is for England, Brook has scored 1,646 runs in 60 innings at an average of 36.57 and a strike rate of 164.10, with two centuries and eight fifties. Coming to the match, England was put to bat first and knocks from Brook (114* in 49 balls, with 10 fours and six sixes) and Jos Buttler (80 in 44 balls, with eight fours and three sixes) took England to 254/4 in 20 overs. Sri Lanka was skittled out for just 135 runs in 19 overs, with Sonny Baker (3/12 in four overs), Jamie Overton (2/20) and Liam Dawson (2/23) being the top bowlers for England. (ANI)
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