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England captain Harry Brook eager to learn from hero Pietersen after historic ton
Harry Brook marked England's first T20I against Sri Lanka with a 49-ball 114 and spoke warmly of mentor Kevin Pietersen. The innings and the praise underlined how quickly Pietersen's return could shape England's white-ball thinking and Brook's wider game.
Harry Brook is eager to learn from Kevin Pietersen after scoring a brilliant hundred in the first T20I win against Sri Lanka in Southampton on September 15. Pietersen joined England setup as their mentor in white-ball cricket.
England captain Harry Brook said that he is eager to learn from his hero Kevin Pietersen after scoring a historic hundred during the first T20I against Sri Lanka. Brook scored 114 from 49 balls, becoming the third captain to have multiple T20I hundreds after Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam.
Brook's sensational knock coincides with Pietersen's first match as the specialist white-ball mentor. Speaking after the win, the England skipper said that the legendary batter is a great addition to the dressing room and wants to work with him more.
"Obviously we haven't had too much time together so far but he's a great figure to have in the changing room -- the type of player he was, he looked at batting slightly differently, in a similar way to me as well," Brook said of Pietersen.
"He always wants to try and look to put the bowlers under pressure, and I'm looking forward to working with him a lot more."
England have added former star batter Pietersen to Brendon McCullum’s coaching group, with the ex-international set to work alongside the team as they prepare for next year’s 50-over World Cup in southern Africa.
Brook hopes that Pietersen can have a big impact on his career, not just in the white-ball format, but also in Tests as well.
"I was actually watching his (Pietersen's) highlights earlier, funnily enough," said Brook. "He was a phenomenal player. The way he accessed different areas of the ground made it really tricky to captain and bowl to, and I'm looking forward to having a lot of conversations about that."
"That's not just for white-ball cricket, that's for Test cricket as well. Hopefully he can have a big impact on my career.
"He's a hero to a lot of players in that changing room. We all grew up watching him and admiring his work and it's just awesome to have a man of his calibre in the changing room."
The second T20I between England and Sri Lanka will be played on September 17.