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Harry Brook's bold statement: "Becoming the No. 1 T20 team is our ultimate goal; beating India 4-0 would be incredibly special"
Under Harry Brook's captaincy, the England T20 team is currently in tremendous form. Having already clinched the series against India, Brook is now focused on taking England to the top spot in the ICC Men's T20I rankings. Brook says that claiming the crown of the world's best T20 team is "a prize his team is determined to win."
In the match played at Bristol, England handed India a crushing 9-wicket defeat, establishing an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
The next match of the series is set to take place in Southampton; a victory there could see England overtake India to claim the top spot in the rankings."Beating India 4-0 would be incredibly special"
Speaking after the match, Harry Brook said,
"We’ve been told that if we win the next match, we’ll become the world number one. That’s certainly a reward we have our sights set on. India is a very strong team. Perhaps they haven't performed in this series quite the way they have over the last two years, but we are delighted with how well we’ve executed our plans on the field."
Brook added,
"To be honest, beating a team like India 4-0 would be a truly special series win, and becoming world number one would be even better. That is our main objective. We need to head to Southampton and get a good handle on the conditions there—something we’ve done very well throughout this series so far."
Keeping an eye on the Football World Cup alongside cricket
On the very day of the Southampton match, England is also scheduled to play their Football World Cup quarter-final against Norway. Brook acknowledged that the cricket team would be keeping a close watch on that match as well. Smiling, he said, "If we become world number one in cricket and the England football team reaches the semi-finals, it would be an amazing weekend. We’ll be following the football match closely."
England's winning run under Brook's captaincy
Since Harry Brook took charge of the England T20 team, their performance has been outstanding. Under his leadership, England has won 19 of their last 22 completed T20 matches. England suffered a defeat against India in the T20 World Cup semi-finals earlier this year, but they have made a magnificent comeback in this series.
Brook believes this success reflects the team's consistent progress in white-ball (limited-overs) cricket. He said, "Our white-ball setup is moving in the right direction. We are playing excellent cricket and quickly adapting to the nature of the pitches. We also had a good World Cup campaign, where we came very close to chasing down a massive target of 250 runs at the Wankhede."
