Delhi Capitals (DC) England batter Harry Brook pulled out of the upcoming IPL 2024 tournament due to personal reasons. Brook was bought by DC for INR 4 Cr in the IPL 2024 auction and the tournament is slated to begin from March 22nd onwards.
The development came ten days before Capitals play their first match of the season - against Punjab Kings on March 23 in Mullanpur.
Brook became the third England player to withdraw from the IPL 2024, after LSG’s Mark Wood was pulled out by the ECB to manage his workload and KKR’s Jason Roy also decided to give the tournament a miss to be with his family.
Brook, 25, had made his IPL debut in the 2023 season after Sunrisers Hyderabad bought him for 13.25 crore that auction. But he scored only 190 runs in 11 matches at a strike rate of 123; one of those innings was an unbeaten 100 off 55 balls against KKR.
Harry Brook had earlier pulled out of the England’s tour of India earlier this year despite traveling with the squad to UAE. The ECB confirmed this and had asked the press and fans to respect his personal reasons to do so.
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Now, Brook himself took to social media and revealed the reason why he had pulled out from the India Test tour and now from the IPL 2024 as well. The reason was the ill-health and the subsequent death of his grandmother.
“I can confirm that I have made the very difficult decision not to play in the upcoming IPL. I was so excited to be picked by Delhi Capitals and was so looking forward to joining up with everyone. Whilst I don't think I should need to share my personal reasons behind this decision, I know there will be many asking why. So, I do want to share this.
I lost my grandmother last month - she was a rock to me and I spent a huge amount of my childhood in her home; my attitude to life and love for cricket was shaped by her and my late grandfather. When at home, there would hardly be a day go by that didn't include seeing her. It makes me so happy that she was able to see me play cricket for England. I'm proud that she could collect some of the awards I have won over the last couple of years when I couldn't be there and I know she enjoyed doing that.
I made the decision to leave the India test tour the night before we flew from Abu Dhabi to India because I was told for the first time that my grandmother was ill and didn't have long left. Now that she has passed my family & I are grieving and I need to be around them. Over the last few years, I have learned to priorities my mental wellbeing and that of my family's, honestly nothing is more important to me than family. So, whilst this may come as surprising to some, I know it's the right decision for me. I'm young and hope to have many, many more years of cricket to come which I intend to make the absolute most of.
I couldn't be more grateful for the support I have received, especially from the ECB and Delhi Capitals, thank you,” Brook posted on Instagram along with photos of his grandmother.
