‘Bas ek match jitaya hai tournament nahi’ – Fans unimpressed with Harry Brook’s ‘glad I shut them up’ remarks after his IPL ton

In the 19th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) faced off with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Friday. The visitors, led by Aiden Markram, won the game by 23 runs in what was a high-scoring thriller.

It was KKR skipper Nitish Rana who won the toss and put SRH to bat first. Opener Mayank Agarwal and number three batter Rahul Tripathi failed to impress scoring just 9 runs each. However, the third-wicket partnership between opener Harry Brook and Aiden Markram set the match alight.

Markram got out in the 13th over after playing a splendid knock of 50 off 26 with two fours and five sixes. Abhishek Sharma, who arrived at number five, played his hand with a delightful cameo of 32 off 17; followed by wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen, who gave the finishing touches with an unbeaten 16 off 6. However, the star of the show was Brook who answered all the doubts with his maiden IPL hundred.

Brook silences critics on social media

After the auctions, a lot was expected of Brook, who stormed into the international circuit for England with some spectacular knocks. However, he could not quite get going in the first three matches for SRH, and a lot of fans on social media criticised him for lack of performance. However, with a knock of an unbeaten 100 off 55 against KKR, he must have lowered a few eyebrows.

SRH bowlers held their nerve and did enough to defend a massive target of 229 with pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar and leg-spinner Mayank Markande standing out. And unsurprisingly, it was the English batter who won the Player of the Match for his knock.

“It was a special night, it was tense but it’s good to be on the winning side. [on batting at the top of the order]: A lot of people say it’s the best place to bat at. I am happy to do what team wants me to do,” said Brook after the match. “I think I was putting pressure on myself after a few games, you go to social media and people talk rubbish. I just went in the don’t-care mode today and played this knock.”

“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,” concluded the 24-year-old.

Here is how the fans reacted to Brook’s comments: