England’s charismatic batter Joe Root believes more “monster scores” will come from young batter Harry Brook’s bat following his triple century in the Multan Test against Pakistan. While Root certainly made his aura felt with a blistering 262-run knock, he was overshadowed by Brook’s magnetism on Day 4. Brook’s calm demeanour on exhibition saw him pick runs all over the field with ease. Root’s career-best of 262 on the fourth day was soon forgotten after Brook celebrated his triple hundred.
The 25-year-old’s knack for scoring runs was soon taken over by fatigue as his glorious knock met its end on 317 of a mere 322 deliveries. Root feels that this wasn’t the last time Brook smashed a remarkable score in his career.
“He’s got such a complete game. He can score all around the wicket, he plays seam well, spin well and high pace well. That’s a pretty good recipe for scoring runs. I’m not surprised at all, in him going on and doing something special like that, but I don’t think it’ll be the last time we see him with a monster score by his name,” Root said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
Root has already put down former England captain Alastair Cook’s tally to become England’s leading Test run-getter. However, Root is hopeful that Brook, with his “complete game” has the pedigree that would help him catch up.
“I hope so. You want to create an environment and a team where things are always improving and always getting better. You want the guys that come in to play with that belief that they can go and do really special things… If guys in the future are breaking records, then England are in a good place, and they’re scoring a lot of runs, so hopefully that is the case,” he added.
Brook was 18 years old when he first played alongside Root for Yorkshire. While expressing his love to play with Brook, the seasoned English batter said, “I love playing with Brooky. I’ve batted a lot together with him at Yorkshire, and seeing him come into this team and fit so seamlessly into Test cricket has been awesome. To get the opportunity to stand there at the other end and watch him go and smack 300 is pretty surreal, really, and to be able to get a big chunk of this score and that partnership myself is pretty cool too.”
The 454-run partnership that toppled numerous records forced Pakistan’s back against the wall. Pakistan’s heads dropped, and confidence went down the slump as they waited for England to make its next move.
England eventually declared on 823/7, putting Pakistan to bat in the final session. Pakistan ended the day with 152/6 on the board and still trailing by 115 runs.
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