England captain Harry Brook has set his side an ambitious target ahead of the final T20I against India, declaring that a 4-0 series victory and the No.1 spot in the ICC men’s T20I rankings are firmly in their sights. England wrapped up the series with a commanding nine-wicket victory in Bristol, taking an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match affair.
The final match in Southampton now carries added significance, with a victory set to propel England above India to the top of the ICC men’s T20I rankings. Having dominated the series with disciplined bowling and clinical batting, Brook believes finishing the job with another convincing performance would underline the progress that England have made in white-ball cricket under his leadership.
Brook said England is fully aware of what is at stake heading into the final game and admitted that becoming the world’s top-ranked T20I side has become a major motivation for the squad. While acknowledging India’s quality, he felt England had executed their plans exceptionally well throughout the series and wanted to end it on a high.
“We’ve been told if we win the next game, we go to world No.1 and that’s definitely a prize that we’re eyeing up. India are a strong side. They probably haven’t been as good as they have been over the last couple of years, but we’re really happy with the way that we’ve executed our plans,โ Brook was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
Brook admires Englandโs impressive performances in T20I cricket
Brook also reflected on England’s impressive run in T20 cricket, pointing out that the team has consistently adapted well to different conditions and built momentum through strong performances over the past year. It is worth noting that England have now won 19 of their last 22 T20Is under his captaincy, a run that included a semi-final appearance at this year’s T20 World Cup.
“The white-ball side’s been on a really good path, if I’m being brutally honest,” Brook said. “We’ve been playing extremely good cricket. We’ve been adapting to the surfaces and conditions really well. We had a good World Cup; we just fell just short of 250 in a chase at the Wankhede, which is incredible.”
Written by Jitisha Parihar. Jitisha Parihar is an intern with IndiaTV Digital.
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