ICC World Cup 2023: Poor IPL Season The Reason Behind Harry Brook's World Cup Snub? Aakash Chopra Shares His Views

Former India opener Aakash Chopra spoke on Harry Brook’s exclusion from the provisional ODI World Cup 2023 squad of England and questioned whether the decision was taken based on the player’s struggle in the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Brook was kept outside of the squad after Ben Stokes overturned his retirement decision from ODI cricket. Soon after the news was official, the English team selectors chose Ben Stokes over Harry Brook to have more experience in the team.

While speaking on his official YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said that there were speculations that Brook might be included in the squad.

The 45-year-old praised the English youngster and said that Harry Brook is an excellent player and he is too good to miss out on the upcoming prestigious tournament.

Chopra reckoned that the 24-year-old English batsman smashed a century against Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2023 but apart from that he failed to make a mark in the T20 tournament.

“Harry Brook’s name is not there although there were a lot of speculations that he will eventually make it as he is too good a player to miss out. He is an amazing player, hits a lot of sixes, but is not part of this squad.

“Does it have anything to do with his struggle in the IPL? He scored a century in Kolkata but other than that, he was finding it extremely difficult to reach double digits as well. He batted up the order at times and down the order on other occasions but his bat didn’t fire properly. So could that be the reason? We don’t know,” Aakash Chopra said.

I think Kevin Pietersen also said that Harry Brook will definitely be there: Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra further pointed out that the provisional squad can be changed till 28th September and mentioned that the England greats like Kevin Pietersen and Michael Vaughan are optimistic about Brook making it to the final 15-man squad.

“I felt it was the 16th August story that was there on the ICC website but this is the latest, which has the announcement of the other squads as well. So Harry Brook is missing out. The provisional squad can be changed till the 28th of September.

“So he might still reach there. Michael Vaughan believed he would reach there. I think Kevin Pietersen also said that he will definitely be there but Harry Brook at this point in time is missing out,” the 45-year-old said.

The defending champions, England will play in the inaugural match of the tournament against New Zealand on October 5th at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.