"A Lot of Indian Fans Will Say 'Well Done' Tonight But They were Slagging Me off a Few Days Ago"

Harry Brook’s maiden IPL hundred on Friday helped Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) register their second win of the season against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens. The English batter didn’t have the best of starts after getting signed by the franchise for a whopping INR 13.25 crore in the mini-auction. He began his IPL journey with a 13-run knock against Rajasthan Royals and followed it up with back-to-back failures; 3 vs LSG and 13 against Punjab Kings. However, the 24-year-old proved his worth with an unbeaten hundred against KKR, which was laced with 12 fours and three sixes.

Brook admitted that he was putting pressure on himself after social media trolling over his failures in initial matches but was happy to shut them up on Friday with a sublime ton.

IPL 2023 KKR vs SRH Match Highlights

“I was putting pressure on myself a little bit. You go on social media and people are calling you rubbish. There are a lot of Indian fans out there who’ll say well done tonight. But they were slagging me off a few days ago. Glad I could shut them up, to be honest,” Brook said in the post-match presentation.

While Brook called it a special night as he became the first centurion of the season

“Was a special night. Thankfully we got over the line as well. Got a little tense in the middle,” he added.

Talking about playing as an opener, Brook suggested that he is flexible to bat anywhere as he has tasted success while batting in the middle order in international cricket.

“A lot of people say that opening the batting in T20 is the best time to bat. I’m happy to bat anywhere. I’ve had a lot of success batting at five. Made my name there. This knock is definitely up there in the list of my best performances,” he said.

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During the mid-match break, Brook opened up on his batting plan during the unbeaten 100-run knock against KKR on Friday.

“I’ve had a bit of trouble with spin, but I wanted to use the powerplay to my advantage. So middle overs wanted to rotate strike and let the other boys do the hitting. It is a belter of a pitch, we need to bowl our lengths rightly and take wickets. We still got a job to do. My girlfriend is here but the rest of my family have just left, I’m sure they’ll all be very happy for me,” Brook said after scoring his maiden IPL ton.

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