Harry Brook eager to learn from 'hero' Kevin Pietersen after Southampton T20I ton

Kevin Pietersen’s impact on England’s T20I cricket was on display in the series opener against Sri Lanka, when they hammered the Lankans by 119 runs at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. Much of the credit goes to captain Harry Brook, who smashed the joint-quickest T20I hundred in just 42 balls, taking inspiration from the dressing-room hero himself, KP. There was no stopping Brook, who clobbered six sixes and 10 fours in his explosive innings, with his batting idol watching from the sidelines.

Speaking highly of Pietersen, whose 2005 Ashes highlights package inspired Brook to his second T20I hundred, England’s white-ball captain said, "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."

"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,” Brook added.

Brook was on song on Tuesday evening in Southampton, as was veteran Jos Buttler, with the two adding 128 runs for the second wicket. While Brook remained unbeaten on 114 off just 49 balls, Buttler missed his 100 by 20 runs. Brook’s brilliance, which saw him smash three sixes and three fours in Dunith Wellalage’s second overs, left his former Test captain Ben Stokes going bonkers over him.

Stokes took to his social media handle X to praise Brook, and compared him to Pietersen, who joined Brendon McCullum’s white-ball coaching staff as a specialist mentor for the ODI World Cup next year.

“I don’t even think the genius of KP could come close to what Harry Brook has talent-wise.

Is it really that hard to just sit back and admire these players for what they are, on the good days and the bad days, and stop berating them for doing things that we would never, ever, ever even think of doing because we simply aren’t on their level to think that way?

You are an absolute freak, Harry.

You’re mint to watch. 🤌🔥,” Stokes wrote on his social media handle.