Star England batter Harry Brook on Sunday announced that he will not feature in this year's Indian Premier League (IPL) that is set to begin from March 22. The middle order batter was picked by Delhi Capitals for Rs 4 crore in the mega auction in November last year.

Brook, who made himself unavailable in the previous season as well, apologised to the franchise and its supporters.

"I have made the very difficult decision to pull out of the upcoming IPL. I apologize unreservedly to the Delhi Capitals and their supporters," Brook wrote on social media.

"It is a really important time for England cricket and I want to fully commit to preparing for the upcoming series. In order to do this, I need time to recharge after the busiest period in my career to date. I know not everyone will understand, and I don't expect them to, but I have to do what I believe is right and playing for my country remains my priority and focus."

As per new IPL rules, any foreign player who misses the IPL after getting picked at the auction faces two-year ban from the IPL unless he is injured.

"Any [overseas] player who registers for [an] auction and, after getting picked at the auction, makes himself unavailable before the start of the season will get banned from participating in the IPL/IPL auction for two seasons," as per the BCCI document shared with teams last year.

England are scheduled to play a five-match Test series in June against India, which will be followed by the much-anticipated Ashes from November to January.

The 26-year-old Brook had earlier withdrawn from the 2024 edition of IPL following the death of his grandmother.