India, Sept. 16 -- Ben Stokes may have retired from international cricket, but he still has his eyes on England cricket and its players. On Tuesday evening in Southampton, as England captain Harry Brook carved out a sensational unbeaten century to help the home team script a crushing 119-run win against Sri Lanka in the first T20I match of the series, Stokes watched it and then rated the T20 star, calling him better than Kevin Pietersen.

Brook, in many ways, is a modern-day Pietersen with his swashbuckling batting ability that can rip into any bowling attack by accessing any part of the ground. The Rose Bowl, on Tuesday, witnessed precisely that as Brook smashed 10 boundaries and half a dozen sixes on his 49-ball unbeaten knock of 114. T...