In a display of sportsmanship, England's star batter Harry Brook publicly disagreed with India's coach, Gautam Gambhir, who had named him the Player of the Series. Brook insisted that the honor should have gone to his teammate, Joe Root, citing Root's more prolific performance throughout the five-Test series.
With the series concluding in a 2-2 draw, the coaches of both teams were tasked with selecting one player from the opposing side for the "Player of the Series" award. India's coach Gautam Gambhir picked Brook as England's best player, while England's head coach Brendon McCullum picked India's captain Shubman Gill.
On the fourth day of the final Test, Brook had an outstanding innings of 111 runs off just 98 balls, which led to his selection. England was on the verge of a record-breaking chase thanks to his performance, but the team ultimately collapsed dramatically, losing seven wickets for just 66 runs to lose the match.
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Despite his own impressive showing, Brook was firm in his belief that Root deserved the award. "I didn’t score as many runs as Rooty (Joe Root), so I probably think he should be Man of the Series—and Man of the Summer again, like he has been for many years," Brook told the BBC. He also reflected on the series as a whole, stating, "I think we’re in a great place. Obviously, it has been an awesome series. 2-2, I didn’t think it was going to be like this, to be honest."
To support Brook's argument, the statistics from the series show a clear difference in their performances. While Brook scored a total of 481 runs at an average of 53.44 across nine innings, Joe Root amassed a series-leading 537 runs at a higher average of 67.12.
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