England captain Ben Stokes has likened Harry Brook to India hero Virat Kohli following his player of the match performance in the series winning victory over Pakistan in Multan.
Brook struck the only century of the match, an excellent 108 off 149 balls, and is averaging 73.80 in Test cricket so far having scored two hundreds in three games. And Stokes has compared Brook to Kohli, one of the greatest players of the modern era, describing him as a "rare" player whose technique means he can enjoy success in all three formats.
"To come here and put in that kind of performance is just phenomenal," Stokes told Sky Sports. "He's one of those rare players where you look across all formats and you can just see him being successful everywhere.
"This is a massive shout, but Virat Kohli's one of those guys where his technique is just so simple and works everywhere. The pressure he [Brook] puts back onto the opposition is exactly what we're about."
Stokes also admitted England will have a selection dilemma on their hands once Jonny Bairstow is fully fit. Bairstow was England's hero this summer as he struck 681 runs and four centuries to help his side win five of their first six Tests under Stokes and McCullum.
However, he broke his leg in three places in September in what the ECB described as "a freak accident whilst playing golf". His injury allowed Brook to make his Test debut and his subsequent success means England will need to find a way to include both of them in the side once Bairstow returns, a problem Stokes says is "the best thing you want" as a captain.
"We're very, very lucky with the way in which we can replace Jonny and have Harry come in because those two, batting at number five, both go about it in the same way," he added.
"They both bring so much to the team. Harry playing the way in which he has done at the moment with Jonny not being in the team unfortunately, it's the best thing you want.
"You want competition for places, you want a strong squad to be able to pick from and you want those headaches when it comes to [picking] a final XI every week rather than going 'I'm not sure who we're going to pick, let's pick a name out of a hat'. We're definitely not in that situation and I feel like we've got all bases covered at the moment."
