"It's the best franchise competition in the world" - Harry Brook excited to play in IPL

England middle-order batter Harry Brook hopes to showcase his aggressive style of play in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The right-handed batter termed the IPL as the best franchise competition in the world, as the best cricketers wish to play in it.

Brook was one of the highest-paid players in the 2023 IPL auction, fetching ₹13.25 crores from SunRisers Hyderabad, making him the third-most expensive English player in IPL auction history behind Sam Curran and Ben Stokes.

The 24-year-old's T20 strike rate is a healthy 148.68 in 99 games and has a century and nine fifties to his name.

Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, Brook said:

"It's the best franchise competition in the world. Everyone wants to play in it. There are a lot of good players there, and hopefully I get some opportunities to express how I'm playing at the minute - and show the world I'm capable of scoring runs anywhere."

The 24-year-old revealed that Kevin Pietersen was his role model growing up and feels his gameplay is quite similar to the former England captain's. He explained:

"I used to love watching him bat when I was younger. He always looked to take the attack to bowlers and put them under pressure. In that aspect, I'm quite similar. He was very wide-stanced, I'm fairly wide, but he's a lot taller than me."

Brook has taken significant strides quite rapidly to become England's next big thing.

The right-handed batter scored centuries in all three Tests during the Pakistan tour and boasts an average of 80.90 in the format. His best of 186 came against New Zealand in Wellington.

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"I'm very lucky to have come into this Test side" - Harry Brook

Brook further underlined that England's aggressive brand of Test cricket suits his own style and credited skipper Ben Stokes for leading the philosophy. He added:

"I'm very lucky to have come into this Test side. The way we're trying to play, the positive brand of cricket we're trying to play to entertain the crowd - it suits my game more than any, really. I don't feel like I'm leading at all: I'm just following orders. Stokesy is leading at the minute: the way he's going out and playing his cricket is so good to watch."

Under Stokes' captaincy, England have won 11 of their last 12 Tests and registered their highest successful run-chase in the format.