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A lot was riding on Harry Brook's shoulders when he was scooped up by the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) mini-auction for a massive Rs 13.25 Crore. He was the third Englishman to go for more than 10 Crores after Ben Stokes and Sam Curran, and the pressure was high.
In the first two matches, he was sent down the batting order and only managed 16 runs. Against the Punjab Kings (PBKS), he was brought up the order to open the batting but once again, despite showing signs of his prowess, he was dismissed for 13 runs. But then came the match against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and an exceptional 55-ball 100 completely turned the attention away from the disappointment of the first three matches.
Brook smoked two sixes and three boundaries in Umesh Yadav's two-over spell in the powerplay. During a quiet spell against the dangerous spin department of KKR, he took 21 balls to reach his half-century after he smashed 32 in just 12 balls.
Follow the KKR vs SRH's live scores here
Normally, this would enrage the propagators of Strike Rate in T20 cricket, but Brook justified this performance when he let his skipper Aiden Markram take on the spinners. Then came the over of Lockie Ferguson, where Brook smashed one maximum and four boundaries. Brook continued his blitzkrieg and completed his century in the 20th over.
Harry Brook and the Baseball Connection
"If they bowl a bad ball I will try and hit it for four or six. It doesn't matter who you are - whether you are the best bowler in the world..." Brook once told BBC in an interview. This was after he completed what was a special spring training with the St. Louis Cardinals. And why is this special?
Brook was made the European ambassador for the Major League Baseball (MLB), along with England women's star Issy Wong, who won the Women's Premier League (WPL) with the Mumbai Indians (MI) in March. While she was doing that, Brook was smashing baseballs out of a baseball diamond in Florida.
"I'm really excited for this partnership and can't wait to try my hand at hitting some home runs," he said after the announcement was made. "I'm intrigued to see how different it is to cricket and what similarities there are too - will a home run feel as good as hitting a six?"
Baseball is a sport not unlike cricket where a home run can be considered the equivalent of a six in cricket, and a batter will have to fail balls almost as fast as a delivery by Shoaib Akhtar in cricket. Hence it is no surprise that Brook chose to go after the pacers of KKR, who conceded a combined 79 runs in five overs.
Maybe we will never know if hitting a home run is the same as a six for Brook, but what we do know now is that the tricks of the trade of hitting the ball out of the park, be it in baseball or in cricket, Harry can do it all.
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