England batter Harry Brook has pulled out of the 18th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year, for the second successive season and stands at risk of facing a two-year ban from future editions of the cash-rich league. As per ESPNCricinfo, Brook's move to pull out from the league was conveyed by the officials of England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) last week and then revealed to his franchise Delhi Capitals (DC), who got him in the last year's auction for Rs 6.25 crores.
There is nothing official that has emerged on the matter from the IPL itself and Brook has not given a reason for his withdrawal so far. He is the frontrunner for the position of white-ball captaincy for England, replacing Jos Buttler following a disastrous run in the 2023 50-over World Cup to a winless ICC Champions Trophy.
An all-format player for England with 18 months left on his central contract, so workload could be one of the reasons behind his withdrawal.
His decision to withdraw leaves him at risk of a two-year ban from the league. This new rule was put in place ahead of the 2025 Mega Auction, based on reactions of all 10 franchises who were frustrated with last-minute withdrawals of several players, mostly English, at the last minute since last few years.
In a note to franchises last September, the IPL said, "Any [overseas] player who registers for [an] auction and, after getting picked at the auction, makes himself unavailable before the start of the season will get banned from participating in the IPL/IPL auction for two seasons."
The only exception, the governing council of the league said, will be for "an injury/medical condition, which will have to be confirmed by the [player's] home board".
Earlier last year, Brook had withdrawn from the IPL because he wanted to be with his family following the death of his grandmother, which also caused him to miss England's Test tour to India in February. He was a part of the Delhi Capitals line-up and was released ahead of 2025 mega auction.
The 2025 IPL season will start with Delhi Capitals against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on March 24. In addition to finding a replacement for Brook, DC has yet to announce their captain as well.
Brool played an IPL season in 2023 with Sunrisers Hyderabad, scoring just 190 runs in 11 matches at an average of 22.11, with a century against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) being a standout knock.
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