“Your work is to come, work hard, perform and leave” - Virender Sehwag's stern message to Harry Brook over “shut up Indian fans” comment

Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag recently shared his views on Harry Brook’s comment in which he had said that he was glad to “shut up” Indian fans who were trolling him for his poor performances. Sehwag opined that Brook’s statement was needless, adding that the cricketer’s job is to perform and leave.

England batter Brook, who was purchased for ₹13.25 crore at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 auction, struggled for runs in the initial few matches. However, after registering a highest score of 13 in his first three games, he slammed 100* off 55 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

At the post-match presentation following SRH’s win, Brook took a dig at Indian fans who were trolling him. Since that hundred against KKR, though, the 24-year-old has failed to play a single innings of note. In his last five innings, he has registered scores of 9, 18, 7, 0, 0.

Brook was subsequently left out of the playing XI when SRH took on Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Jaipur on Sunday, May 7.

Reacting to Hyderabad’s move, Sehwag revisited the cricketer’s comment on Indian fans and urged him to focus on his batting. The former India opener told Cricbuzz:

“Why would you mess with trolls? Why should you even look at who are trolling you or criticizing you or praising you? Your work is to come, work hard, perform and leave. If you want to put something on social media, then post it. After posting it don't look at the comments because that will definitely affect your mind. For that your need to be in your space - watch movies, listen to music, hangout with friends.

“Social media is not for watching anything, it is only a place for posting updates. Don't be afraid of them. And if you perform, even those you had trolled or criticized you, will now praise you.”

Brook was named as one of SRH’s impact subs for the match against RR, but the franchise used Anmolpreet Singh as the impact player.

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What Brook said after his match-winning ton against KKR

Brook was named Player of the Match for his 100* off 55 balls against KKR, a knock that featured 12 fours and three sixes.

While receiving his award, the right-handed batter commented:

"I was putting pressure on myself a little bit after the first few games. You go on social media and people are calling you rubbish. You start to doubt yourself a little bit. I just went out there with an 'I don't care' mentality tonight and thankfully it came off.

"There are a lot of Indian fans out there who'll say 'well done' tonight. But they were slagging me off a few days ago. Glad I could shut them up, to be honest."

Since making the controversial statement, the SRH batter has scored a paltry 34 runs in five innings.