Before the tour of India, England faced a major dent when Harry Brook pulled out of the series citing personal reasons. The England and Wales Cricket Board issued a press release in this regard and informed about the development. Dan Lawrence has been announced as Harry Brook’s replacement by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
Former England captain Nasser Hussain, while speaking to Sky Sports, gave his opinion on Harry Brook’s withdrawal from the series. Hussain stated that in the beginning cricket was important, but not more than cricket. Hussain wished Brook’s family well. Hussain also believed that Brook might return to India midway through the series as it is a long tour.
Nasser Hussain talks about Harry Brook’s withdrawal from the India series
Nasser Hussain said: “Your first consideration has to be the individual, the duty of care to that individual, and we must all wish Harry and his family well. Cricket is important and Test cricket is important, but his family and yourself are more important.”
“So [for] personal reasons why you have returned home. I hope everything is all right. I hope to return to India at some point, it’s a long tour. But first things first, you need to make sure Harry Brook is okay.”
Nasser Hussain also praised Harry Brook for his batting and stated that he optimizes the way England want him to play. Hussain also praised his ability to play against spin and the way he played in Pakistan.
“His statistics for England since making his debut at the Oval have been phenomenal. He averages 62 with a strike rate of 92, epitomizing how McCullum and Stokes want this team to play. A fabulous spin player as we saw in Pakistan, so he is a big coup on the eve of such an important Test series.”
Harry Brook is a very attacking batsman and knows how to play attacking cricket from the 1 ball. Brook has a wide range of shots and also plays the big shots effortlessly. Brook has been decent for England in Test cricket and scored 4 centuries in his first six Tests. Of these four hundreds, three came in their first Test series against Pakistan.
The India vs England Test series will also be important for both teams from the perspective of the 2023-25 World Test Championship. England have shown brilliant cricket in the red-ball format since Ben Stokes took over the captaincy of the Test team. Stokes has not lost a single Test series as captain and also whitewashed Pakistan in Pakistan during December 2022.
On the other hand, India has also been unstoppable in the red ball format in the last few years. India has played the two finals of the World Test Championship and will now try to play another final of the tournament. India has not won a single WTC final and suffered defeats at the hands of New Zealand and Australia respectively. Both teams will want to add the necessary points to the 2023-25 WTC classification by winning the series.