AGENCY
NEW DELHI, Mar 9
Harry Brook has pulled out of his IPL deal with Delhi Capitals for the second season running, and as a consequence could face a two-year ban from future editions of the competition.
ESPNcricinfo has learned that Brook’s decision to pull out was conveyed by ECB officials to the BCCI last week, and then relayed to Delhi Capitals, who bought Brook for INR 6.25 crore at the IPL mega auction last November.
There is no official line on the development yet from IPL, and Brook himself has not cited any reason behind him opting out. However, he is considered a frontrunner to replace Jos Buttler as England’s white-ball captain following their group-stage elimination at the Champions Trophy, and, as an all-formats player with 18 months yet to run on his ECB central contract, workload management could prove to be a factor in the withdrawal. The ECB has been contacted for comment.
Either way, the decision leaves him vulnerable to a two-year ban from the IPL. The new rule was put in place ahead of the 2025 auction, and is based on feedback from all 10 franchises who expressed frustration at a history of late pullouts by overseas players.
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 said, will be for “an injury/medical condition, which will have to be confirmed by the [player’s] home board”.
This is the second year in a row in which Brook has pulled out just before the IPL season starts and both times from the Capitals. Last March, 10 days before their opening match of the season, Brook informed Capitals he was withdrawing from the 2024 IPL to be with his family after the death of his grandmother.
The bereavement had already caused him to pull out of England’s Test tour of India in February.
The 2025 IPL will start from March 22 with Capitals’ opening fixture coming against Lucknow Super Giants in Visakhapatnam on March 24. In addition to finding a replacement for Brook, Capitals also are yet to announce their captain.
Brook has played one IPL season to date, in 2023, when he endured a difficult campaign with Sunrisers Hyderabad. He made 190 runs at 22.11 in 11 matches, but more than half of those came in a single remarkable innings, 100 not out from 55 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens.
