Veteran India batter Cheteshwar Pujara made a bold comparison after reflecting on Harry Brook’s impressive batting display against India on Day 3 of the opening Test in Headingley. The veteran reckons there are shades of Rishabh Pant in the English batter after witnessing his fearless knock.
Brook took charge with the bat on Day 3 to steer England closer to a lead. Despite going all the way to 99 runs, he eventually fell short of a well-deserved hundred when Prasidh Krishna got the big wicket.
Speaking to the Sony Sports network after the end of the day’s play, Pujara looked back on his time with Brook in the English domestic setup, as the two played for Yorkshire together in the 2015 season.
Since then, Brook has come a long way, having now been promoted as England’s white-ball captain, and Pujara reckons that he has matured and is on track to becoming a fine player for the side.
“I’ve seen his journey when I was playing for Yorkshire, he made his first-class debut. So since then he has matured and he’s playing and he’s leading in the white circuit for the England team, so he knows, understands his responsibility and the kind of shots he played today—I mean, not many players can do that,” Pujara commented.
The Indian cricketer believes that both Brook and Pant have a rather similar approach when it comes to batting. He suggested that both men have the tendency to go after the bowlers to rattle the opposition and can produce a game-changing knock that lifts their respective teams.
“I can see a little bit of Rishabh Pant in him because he’s stepping down, although both have different approach, but both of them are fearless. Both of them are trying to disrupt bowler’s length, and they are trying to put pressure on back on the bowlers and that’s why that’s the key, because whenever the team is in trouble,” he shared.
Pujara also noted how Brook piles up his runs fairly quickly and reckons that the bowling team could see it as a nuisance as well.
“Those are the guys who put pressure back on the bowlers and take the game away from you very quickly. Harry Brook is one of them who bats very quickly. His strike rate is always on the higher side, which is always difficult for the opposition team,” he added.
With Brook’s knock, England remain in the contest for a possible victory, and now the hosts will look to ensure they can restrict the Indian batters to a score that is chaseable with two days of play left to go.