Harry Brook pulls out of IPL for second straight year, likely to face a two-year ban

Delhi Capitals will be without Harry Brook's services for the second year in a row as the potential England captain has withdrawn from the 2025 edition of the IPL. Brook didn't take part in the 2024 edition of the IPL due to his grandmother's passing but pulling out of the upcoming edition could see him getting banned from the tournament for two seasons as per the new IPL player regulations.

As per ESPNCricinfo, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) communicated their decision of pulling Brook out of IPL 2025 to the BCCI last week and the same was further conveyed to the Delhi Capitals. The Capitals didn't use an RTM for Brook but bought him at the auction outright for Rs 6.25 crore. With Brook being touted to be the next white-ball captain for England after Jos Buttler's decision to step down, the ECB might just be a bit careful regarding his workload. Brook was Buttler's deputy for the India series and the Champions Trophy but as Rob Key suggested, England could potentially have three different captains across formats.

ECB's decision though, could land Brook's IPL aspirations and career in a soup. "Any player who registers in the player



auction and after getting picked at the auction, makes himself unavailable before the start of the season, will get banned from participating in the tournament and player auction for 2 Seasons," one of the eight regulations from the IPL issued last September read.

The likes of Jason Roy and Adam Zampa had repeated cases of pulling out of the IPL after being picked up in the auction and last year's Brook's withdrawal, albeit for a genuine reason, further pushed the BCCI to tighten the screws over the foreign players.

An official word is awaited from both the IPL and the Delhi Capitals but the franchise with the likes of Jake Fraser-McGurk, Faf du Plessis, Tristan Stubbs and Donovan Ferreira in the squad as the overseas batting options might now be inclined to add batting all-rounder to the mix, who can finish the games. Gulbadin Naib, Dasun Shanaka and Sikandar Raza, all of whom played for the Delhi's satellite side Dubai Capitals in the title-winning season in the ILT20.

Delhi Capitals begin their campaign in Visakhapatnam on March 24 against the Lucknow Super Giants and are the only team yet to announce their captain for IPL 2025.