"Big blow" - Nasser Hussain concerned after Harry Brook's withdrawal from India Tests

Ahead of the India tour, England faced a major dent when Harry Brook withdrew from the series citing personal reasons. The England and Wales Cricket Board issued a press release for the same and informed about the development. Dan Lawrence has been announced as the replacement for Harry Brook by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

Former England captain Nasser Hussain while speaking to Sky Sports, gave his opinion about Harry Brook withdrawing from the series. Hussain stated that at first, cricket was important but not more than cricket. Hussain wished well to Brook’s family. Hussain also believed that Brook might return to India in the middle of the series as it is a long tour.

Nasser Hussain opens up on Harry Brook withdrawing from India series

Nasser Hussain said, “Your first consideration has to be the individual, the duty of care of that individual, and we all must wish Harry and his family well. Cricket is important, and Test cricket is important, but your family and yourself are more important.”

“So [for] personal reasons he has headed home. Hopefully everything will be okay. Hopefully he’ll come back to India at some stage, it’s a long tour. But the first things first, they must make sure that Harry Brook is fine.”

Nasser Hussain also hailed Harry Brook for his batting and stated that he optimizes the way England wants him to play. Hussain also hailed his skills to play against spin and the way he played in Pakistan.

“His stats for England since coming in on debut at the Oval have been phenomenal. He’s averaged 62 at a strike rate of 92, he epitomises how McCullum and Stokes want this side to play. A fabulous player of spin as we saw in Pakistan, so it is a big blow on the eve of such a big Test series.”

Harry Brook is a very attacking batsman and knows how to play attacking cricket from ball 1. Brook has a wide range of shots and he also plays the big shots very effortlessly. Brook has been decent for England in Test cricket and slammed 4 centuries from his first six Tests. Out of these four hundreds, three came in his debut Test series against Pakistan.

The India vs England Test series will also be important for both teams from the perspective of the World Test Championship 2023-25. England have displayed brilliant cricket in the red ball format since Ben Stokes took over the captaincy of the Test side. Stokes has not lost a single Test series as captain and also whitewashed Pakistan in Pakistan during December 2022.

On the other hand, India have also been unstoppable in the red ball format from the past few years. India have played both the finals of the World Test Championship and now will be aiming to play yet another final of the tournament. India have not won a single WTC final and faced losses at the hands of New Zealand and Australia respectively. Both teams will want to add necessary points to the WTC 2023-25 standings by winning the series.