Harry Brook breaks silence on two-year IPL ban

Newly appointed England captain Harry Brook has responded to reports about the BCCI banning him from the Indian Premier League after he opted out of the IPL 2025.

Brook emerged as the frontrunner for England’s white-ball captaincy after Jos Buttler stepped down from the role following the Champions Trophy 2025.

Long before he was named captain of the side, Harry Brook announced his decision to drop out of the IPL 2025 to “recharge after the busiest period in my career to date”.

The decision, however, led the BCCI to ban him from the tournament for two years.

The England captain has now responded to the question of whether he was informed about the ban.

“They haven’t told me. But if I do get banned, fair play. That’s the rules they put in place, but I’m completely committed to playing cricket for England,” Harry Brook said at his Headingley unveiling on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old, however, said that he was fine with losing money as long as he had a chance to play for England.

“So to lose a little bit of money here and there, I’d take that any day to play for England. I won’t be playing any franchise cricket in the near future and I’ll be prioritising England and whatever games we have with them,” he said.

The England captain added: “This is my priority. England is the way forward for me and franchise cricket can almost take a step back for little while. At the end of the day I enjoy playing cricket for England more than anything else.

Brook captained England in the ODI series against Australia in September and was vice-captain at the Champions Trophy 2025.

His first outing as permanent England white-ball captain will come in three home T20Is and three ODIs against West Indies at the end of May.

Harry Brook has played 26 ODIs for England, scoring 816 runs, while he has made 44 T20 appearances and was part of the team that won the T20 World Cup in Australia in 2022.