'I Got Into A Rabbit Hole': Brook Opens Up On His Backlash In IPL 2023

Indian Premier League: England white-ball captain Harry Brook has opened up on the criticism he faced during his underwhelming and only Indian Premier League season with the Sunrisers Hyderabad. He was being criticised for his innings prior to his century

By IANS News
Aug 17, 2026 • 12:58 PM

I got into a rabbit hole: Brook opens up on his backlash in IPL 2023 (Image Source: IANS)

Indian Premier League: England white-ball captain Harry Brook has opened up on the criticism he faced during his underwhelming and only Indian Premier League season with the Sunrisers Hyderabad. He was being criticised for his innings prior to his century against Kolkata Knight Riders and said he felt glad to "shut up" the supporters who were "slagging me off".

Brook mustered only 190 runs in the 2023 season despite having scored a masterful hundred. However, his form dipped thereafter, and he found himself in a pressure cooker.

Brook has now reflected on the only season he was part of in the lucrative league, highlighting that he got into a troublesome situation. "I got into a little bit of a rabbit hole with scrutiny and social media when I was at the IPL," Brook told BBC Sport. "It didn't help me as a person on the field or off the field. I decided to, not stay away from social media, but also not go out of my way to look at it.

The England skipper turned his attention to the optimism from that criticism, as he feels that people wanted him to do better. "On the other hand, I actually feel it's a little bit of a compliment if people are giving me scrutiny and have an opinion about my game. I know it's not a nice thing to see people slagging you off, but it means people care and people think I can put in a better performance than I have done that day," he said.