England star Harry Brook pulled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign for the second year in a row, as he made himself unavailable ahead of the start of the 2025 season at the last minute. While the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) allows players to take such decisions due to injury or family-related issues, Brook’s pull-out wasn’t down to any of those factors. Hence, the England star is set to be banned from participating in the IPL for the next two seasons. As the board’s tough stance became a topic of debate, Brook’s England mates Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali shared their honest opinions on the matter.
Moeen Ali, who has played for multiple IPL franchises over the years, refused to label BCCI’s stance on the matter ‘harsh’, saying if a player pulls out this way, it messes his whole team up.
“It’s not harsh. I kind of agree with it, in a way, because a lot of people do that,” Moeen said in the ‘Beard Before Wicket’ podcast. “A lot of people have done it in the past, and then they come back in and they end up getting a better financial package, or whatever it is. And he kind of messes a lot of things up as well at the same time.”
“I mean, it’s messed his team up, obviously, by pulling out. Any team that loses Harry Brook is messed up a bit, and they’ve got to now rejig everything and stuff like that.
“Forget him for a second, but if you do pull out, the rule is that you get a ban unless it’s for family reasons or… due to injury or something. If it’s injury or something, it’s different. But I think if you just pull out, then it’s… I kind of agree with the teams. You actually mess a lot of stuff up.
“He’s a top player. They’ve probably picked the team around him, and then all of a sudden, you’re pulling out.”
Adil Rashid, who has also had the experience of playing in the IPL, backed the BCCI’s call. He stressed that the board is only trying to prevent such instances from cropping up every year by maintaining a tough stance.
He said: “They actually put that rule in place before, and then this happened. So, you know when you’re going in, this is the rule. So when you put your name in, you know if you pull out, this is going to happen. So you know the consequences of it. So I don’t think it’s harsh.
“No, but if you pull out and you have, like you say, an injury or whatever, then I think that’s where something like the rules may differ or change in that way.
“Not just him (Harry Brook), but… But this has been going on for, I don’t know, for a little while, I reckon. Mo (Moeen Ali) has been in the IPL a lot longer, but in the past probably five, ten years, a lot of players have been selected generally and have pulled out. So that’s why they’re (BCCI) trying to stop it that way.”
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