Harry Brook pulls out of IPL 2024

Delhi Capitals have endured a setback ahead of IPL 2024, as Harry Brook has withdrawn from the cash-rich league citing personal reasons almost less than two weeks before the inaugural game of the season. The England batter was purchased by Delhi Capitals for a sum of four crore. Earlier, Brook also gave the Test series against India a miss and had cited the same reason for his absence.

He was about to board a flight to India in January but pulled out at the last moment. The England and Wales Cricket Board had requested privacy for the batter and his family. This has been the recent trend lately with the English cricketers. Many of them have pulled out at the last moment, and subsequently, the IPL franchises that had splurged money to acquire them are left unattained. Now, the franchises seek consideration from BCCI over the issue.

“Once players register for the auction, they should honour their commitment. Reneging on it is unprofessional, and the BCCI should address this,” said a franchise official as quoted by Cricbuzz.

Continuing with the players snubbing IPL at the eleventh hour, the likes of Alex Hales, Jason Roy, and Mitchell Starc have been part of the trend over the years. So much so that, when Starc was anticipated to go big in this year’s IPL auction, questions over his commitment and availability arose. Coming back to the Delhi Capitals headache, they seem to have taken a silent stand as they haven’t reciprocated to the queries over Brook’s conduct.

Harry Brook’s forgettable IPL 2023 outing

Brook’s performance in the previous season of the IPL was worth forgetting. The right-handed batter who was lauded as the torch bearer of the Ben Stokes- Brendon McCullum’ Bazball game of play, turned up with abysmal form. Sunrisers Hyderabad had placed their bet on Brook, and he reverted with 190 runs, with an average of 21. SRH, who had shredded 13.25 crore for his services, released him before this year’s auction.