Ben Duckett was approached by Delhi Capitals, but he decided not to join.
Former England opener Nick Knight explains why Harry Brook withdrew and Ben Duckett declined contracts for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.
Harry Brook was signed by Delhi Capitals (DC) for INR 6.25 crore in the IPL 2025 auction. But he later pulled out of the tournament, which resulted in a two-year ban from the IPL.
DC then approached Ben Duckett to replace Harry Brook, but he decided not to join.
In IPL 2024, there were 18 England players across 10 teams. Some of them pulled out during the tournament, but that was still a much higher number compared to this season. This season there are 10 English players.
Speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s T20 TimeOut show, former England opener Nick Knight explained that Rob Key, who is the managing director of the England Cricket (ECB) team, has been encouraging players to prioritise playing for England as much as possible. He highlighted England’s busy schedule, which includes a five-Test series against India and the Ashes. With key multi-format players like Harry Brook and Mark Wood, managing their workload has become essential, especially since they are well taken care of within the national setup.
“Rob Key, who is in charge back at the ECB, has basically tried to – and he’s fairly right – encouraged his players to play as much for England [as possible]. They’ve got a five-Test series against India. They’ve got an Ashes to follow. They’ve got multi-format players, like Harry Brook and Mark Wood – they’re pretty well looked-after now. And they’re going to have to be looked after,” Nick Knight said.
He added that since the ECB takes good care of these players, they may not feel the need to participate in every T20 league around the world. With new leagues emerging and auction prices not always meeting expectations, some players might prefer to explore other opportunities rather than committing to the IPL.
“There’s a bit of that influence. So they perhaps don’t need to travel and play in all these leagues around the world. There are other leagues popping up as well. If you’re not going to get the full price [at the IPL auctions] that perhaps you might want to get, you might want to play in another league. So there are a number of these sort of factors flying around for some of these players,” he added.
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Nick Knight suggested that the value of some players may have declined due to recent ICC tournaments and the way global competitions have unfolded. Using Sam Curran as an example, he recalls winning the Player of the Tournament award in the T20 World Cup in Australia. Following that success, Curran received a massive bid in the IPL auction. Knight explained that various factors have come into play, leading to some players being less in demand than expected.
“Perhaps the stock of some of these players is not quite as high because of the ICC trophies, and the way some of these competitions globally have been going. You know, you look at Sam Curran. Go back a couple of T20 [World Cups] back in Australia, he was the Player of the Tournament. And he goes into the IPL auction, gets an absolute full whack. So there are a number of factors that are combining to make a few players less [in demand] than you’d expect, “he added.
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