England’s attacking batter Harry Brook has opted out of the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) due to personal reasons.
As per the Cricbuzz report, the English batter will not take part in the competition that starts on March 22. Brook was purchased by Delhi Capitals for Rs 4 crore in last year’s auction. Earlier, he pulled out of England’s five-Test tour of India citing the same reason.
“The Brook family respectfully requests privacy during this time. In light of this, the ECB and the family kindly request the media and the public to respect their wish for privacy and refrain from intruding on their private space,” ECB had said in a January release.
There is dissatisfaction among IPL franchisees due to the habit of English players abandoning contracts, citing personal reasons. They claim that their auction strategy is disrupted by such quick and unexpected pullouts. IPL teams are thinking of bringing up this matter with the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI).
“Once players register for the auction, they should honour their commitment. Reneging on it is unprofessional, and the BCCI should address this,” Cribuzz quoted a franchise official as saying.
Brook is not the first England player to pull out of their IPL contract. Earlier, Alex Hales and Jason Roy followed the same path and even Australia’s Mitchell Starc has also ditched his IPL franchise previously.
There is no official confirmation from Delhi Capitals but the franchise is searching for Brook’s replacement in the squad ahead of the start of the season. As per media reports, Australia’s 21-year-old batter Jake Fraser-McGurk is the front-runner to fill him in the squad.
Brook made his IPL debut last year with Sunrisers Hyderabad. He could not justify his whopping Rs 13.25 crore price tag and just scored 190 runs in 11 matches for the franchise. His only remarkable contribution came against Kolkata Knight Riders when he slammed a century but other than that he just had a series of single-digit scores.
Before the auction for IPL 2024, Sunrisers Hyderabad released him from the squad. Interestingly, Brook was Delhi Capitals’ first buy in last year’s auction at Coca Cola Arena in Dubai.
Delhi Capitals, who finished ninth last year, will be bolstered with the return of captain Rishabh Pant after a long injury hiatus. Delhi Capitals will take on Punjab Kings in their opening match in Mohali on March 23.