Harry Brook stole the show with his fiery batting display during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens on Friday, April 14. The English batter, who was signed by SRH for a whopping sum, has been the talk of international cricket for his spectacular performances. After failing the initial matches, the 24-year-old announced his arrival in the world's biggest cricket league, becoming the first centurion of IPL 2023.
With a price tag of Rs 13.25 crore and recent performances in Tests and T20Is, fans expect Brook to continue to fire in the IPL as well. However, the youngster struggled to find runs in the first three matches, prompting the SRH management to move him from the middle order to the top of the order. The decision paid dividends as Brook smashed a century off just 55 balls in his maiden IPL appearance to help his team to a 23-run victory.
Speaking after his stunning performance, Brook took a dig at Indian fans for trolling him on social media after failing in the first few matches. He also said that his performance against KKR would silence the critics.
"I was putting pressure on myself a little bit after the first few games. You go on social media and people are calling you rubbish. You start to doubt yourself a little bit. I just went out there with an 'I don't care' mentality tonight and thankfully it came off. 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."
Watch the video below:
— tea_addict 🇮🇳 (@on_drive23) April 14, 2023
Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh's counter-attack went in vain
Brook's unbeaten 100-run knock, which included 12 fours and 3 sixes, and skipper Aiden Markram's superb half-century aided SRH to a massive total of 228. There were also some handy contributions from Abhishek Sharma and Heinrich Klaasen towards the end of the innings.
Defending a mammoth total, SRH got off to a flying start as Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck in the very first over, dismissing Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a 3-ball duck. The visitors gained the upper hand after Marco Jansen dismissed Venkatesh Iyer and Sunil Narine in consecutive deliveries in the fourth over.
KKR batters struggled against the new ball as they slipped to 20/3 but a stunning counter-attack from skipper Nitish Rana (71 off 41) gave them a lifeline. Rana made a decent partnership with N Jagadeesan and afterwards with Rinku Singh (58* off 31) to move close to the massive target.
Here's how fans reacted to Brook's statement:
Nobody is immune to critisism lol. You were bought for a heavy amount, you gotta perform. Now better score runs in upcoming matches too after giving such statements.
— ROMEO👑 (@iromeostark) April 14, 2023
That's what happens when you are confident about your skills. You don't have to dance on the reels of their songs to impress.
— Himanshu Pareek (@Sports_Himanshu) April 14, 2023
He is an absolute gem. He will continue to entertain.
— Sanket (@awesomesanket) April 14, 2023
You play IPL ane tell Indian fans to shut up. God save you bro.
— Agastee Vibhute (@agastiv) April 14, 2023
He needs to develop some thick skin if he wants to be successful in IPL🤣🤣🤣
— Venkatesh Elayavalli (@elayavalli) April 14, 2023
U just triggered them. Now for ur every failure there will be lots of trolls.
— सक्षम¹⁸ (@imvk18king) April 14, 2023
One fluke inning on flat track
— 🆁🅰🅳🅸🅾🅽 (@RadionKohli74) April 14, 2023
Over confidential 🔥🔥
Careful Brook! You have just invited yourself some more trolls if you don't score in next matches
— Utsav 💔 (@utsav045) April 14, 2023
Imagine earning crores of money in a country and blaming their own people..
— SavageCreature (@SavageCreature) April 14, 2023
Congratulations on becoming the most hated guy among Indian fans.
— Shravan Kudla (@kmcrhsm_) April 14, 2023