Harry Brook: “I had some of the best bowlers in the world in my team – Shaheen and Haris, so I tried to learn off them boys”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
England batsman Harry Brook said Pakistan seamers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf are right up there with the best bowlers in the world.
He acknowledged that he learned a lot from them while playing alongside them for the Lahore Qalandars in this year’s Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Brook was outstanding in PSL 7, which the Qalandars won, as he smashed 264 runs in 10 matches, which included a top score of 102 not out, at an average of 52.80 and a strike-rate of 171.42.
The 23-year-old has been retained by the franchise for PSL 8, which will be held in Pakistan from February to March 2023.
“I had some of the best bowlers in the world in my team – Shaheen and Haris, so I tried to learn off them boys,” he was quoted as saying by respected journalist Saj Sadiq on Twitter.
Brook is now playing in the three-Test series against Pakistan and starred in the first Test in Rawalpindi as he made a career-best 153 in the first innings, which came off 116 balls and included 19 boundaries and five sixes.
He followed that up with 87 runs off 65 deliveries in the second innings, which included 11 boundaries and three sixes.
Thanks to his heroics with the bat, England won the first Test by 74 runs.
Rauf made his Test debut in the match, but only took one wicket.
Since he suffered a quad injury, he has been ruled out for the remainder of the series, while Afridi was not selected as he is recovering from a knee injury he sustained in the 2022 T20 World Cup final.
The second Test will get underway on Friday in Multan.
Pakistan’s Squad for England Test Series: Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Ali, Shan Masood, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Nauman Ali, Saud Shakeel, Zahid Mahmood, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed