WELLINGTON: Legendary Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting has heaped praise on England’s rising batsman Harry Brook and termed him the ‘best batsman’ in the world today.
Brook on Wednesday dethroned compatriot Joe Root to become the highest-ranked Test batsman thanks to his eighth Test century, which came in the recently concluded second Test against New Zealand.
Meanwhile, Ponting, while speaking on the recent episode of ICC Review, said he “loves” watching Brook play, highlighting the right-handed batsman’s ability to excel away from home.
“He’s probably (the best Test batsman in the world) at the moment,” Ponting said of Brook.
“He is doing incredible things and most of them he is doing away from home.
“It’s his seven hundreds now away from home, between eight or nine hundreds, and it’s the way he goes about his runs, classily and quickly under this new regime and I love watching him play.”
Earlier this week, Brook received similar words of recognition from veteran English batsman Joe Root for his prowess against spin and fast bowling.
“Brooky (Harry Brook) is by far the best player in the world at the moment. He can absorb pressure, he can apply it. He can hit you on the head for six. He can go over your head for six. He can hit on the seam, he can hit the seam,” Root said.
“He is so difficult to play against and fits in with someone like Pope who is extremely busy and scoring goals in difficult areas, (which) makes it very difficult to stop the flow of runs. I think they played exceptionally well together,” he added.
