Far from the talks about the ongoing India-New Zealand series and the impending and much-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Test series, is another series where reigning ODI World Cup winners England are going through a dip. They have already lost the three-match series with a game in hand. Despite England’s concerning show, former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif was thoroughly impressed with an England batting star as he hailed him the “next Babar Azam or Virat Kohli.”
Rashid was particularly impressed with young Harry Brook. Having made his international debut for England exactly a year back in the T20Is against West Indies, Brook shot into limelight with his stunning knock of 153 against Pakistan in the Rawalpindi Test. He had later completed that series with back-to-back tons, in Multan and Karachi while also scoring a 65-ball 87. In his ODI debut last week, he did begin with a three-ball duck but bounced back in impressive fashion to score a 75-ball 80, albeit in a losing cause.
Speaking on YouTube channel ‘Caught Behind’, Rashid hailed Brook as the next big thing in international cricket while reminding that the youngster had gone for a whopping amount of INR 13.35 crore as Sunrisers Hyderabad roped him in the IPL auction last December.
“If you look at Brook’s performance then in the last couple of innings he was just outstanding. He just doesn’t stop. He also became one of the most expensive overseas players in IPL auction. Brook is now one of the best players in the world at the moment, among the current crop of players. He could be the next Babar Azam or Virat Kohli,” he said.
Not just Rashid, England Test skipper Ben Stokes has also compared Brook to Kohli, backing the youngster to emerge as big thing in all-format cricket like the former India skipper.
“He’s one of those rare players that you look across all formats and you can just see him being successful everywhere. It’s a massive shout, but Virat Kohli is one of those guys where his technique is just so simple and works everywhere. The pressure that he puts back onto opposition is exactly what we’re about,” Stokes had told Sky Sports after the Pakistan series.
