In the first two games of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s IPL 2023 campaign, Harry Brook played in the middle order. Batting at No.4 against Rajasthan Royals, he struggled to score and managed a 21-ball 13. Against Lucknow Super Giants he came out at No.5 and lasted just four balls for 3 as well. Meanwhile, he was promoted to open against Punjab Kings, he managed 13 before being bowled off a knuckle-ball from Arshdeep Singh.
However, Harry Brook scored a stunning 100 not out off only 55 deliveries at the Eden Gardens on Friday (April 14) against KKR to set the stage for SRH’s 23-run victory as well.
READ MORE: ‘Could have gone deeper’ – Shubman Gill on his knock
While speaking to the IPL broadcasters after getting his Player of the Match award, Brook said: “I think I was putting pressure on myself after the first few games. If you go on social media, people are calling you rubbish and you start to slightly doubt yourself a little bit. But I just went out there with a ‘I don’t care’ mentality tonight and thankfully came up. There are a lot of Indian fans out there (on social media) who are going to say ‘well done tonight’ but they were slagging me off a few days ago. Glad I could shut them up.”
Speaking after the game, KKR captain Nitish Rana also said that their bowling effort wasn’t up to the mark, with all the bowlers, apart from Sunil Narine, finishing with an economy of over 10.
ALSO READ: Viacom18 bags WIPL Media Rights for 5 years
“I feel the way we bowled was not according to the plans. No matter what the wicket was like, this wasn’t a 230 wicket. One odd day you’ll get an innings like Rinku had the other day, but not everyday. We batted really well, we wanted to take the game deep and then you never know. Home advantage is one thing, but we know Eden Gardens tracks always play this way, we expected 200 to be a par score here and have been preparing that way, but we need to bowl better. Today, even the main bowlers were going for runs but I can’t be too critical because these are the same bowlers who will win me a game some other time. Very happy with the fight we showed,” stated Rana.
