IPL 2025: 3 players who can replace Harry Brook in Delhi Capitals’ squad
Delhi Capitals will be without Harry Brook’s services for the second year running and the franchise will have to mine the auction pool to get a quality replacement ahead of IPL 2025. Brook confirmed that he wants to channel all his energies into playing for England after the ‘busiest time’ recently.
Another year, another Englishman pulling out of the IPL before the start of a new season? The broken record played before the 2025 edition of the IPL as Harry Brook withdrew from the tournament to focus his energies on England cricket after undergoing the busiest period of cricket recently. Brook was picked by Delhi Capitals for Rs 6.25 crore and apologised to the franchise and its fans for his decision but the 26-year-old, who is in the talks of becoming the next white-ball captain for his country was precautionary regarding his workload mentally and physically.
The Capitals, who have Jake Fraser-McGurk, Faf du Plessis, Tristan Stubbs and Donovan Ferreira as overseas options in the batting department, can think of multiple ways of replacing Brook to strengthen their squad with Abishek Porel and KL Rahul being the two solid Indian names. Here’s a look-
1. Dewald Brevis
Dewald Brevis arrived on the big stage pretty early and even though there were signs, it took a couple of seasons for the 21-year-old to fully bloom into the player everyone knew he had the potential to be. Playing in the finishing role for the eventual champions MI Cape Town in SA20, Brevis had the best strike rate in the tournament of 184, while scoring 291 runs at an average of 48.50. With Tristan Stubbs going through a rough patch, a middle-order batter in form with the ability to finish games might not be a bad option for the Capitals, especially with the impact player rule covering up for the required extra bowler.
2. Roston Chase / Michael Bracewell
Delhi Capitals probably have the best spin combination in the tournament, maybe competition with the experience of veterans at Chennai Super Kings. However, the Capitals might not mind an overseas spinning all-rounder, who can be a floater. Roston Chase has done well for the West Indies and CPL in similar conditions to the sub-continent and can be a good No 4 option. But if KL Rahul takes up four, Michael Bracewell, who did well in the Champions Trophy for New Zealand and also has IPL experience to his name, could be given a shot.
3. Gulbadin Naib / Dasun Shanaka
The third option for the Capitals could be adding a pace-bowling all-rounder and resorting to their satellite franchise, Dubai for some inspiration and inventory. Gulbadin Naib and Dasun Shanaka were the stars of the Capitals’ universe’s first trophy in the ILT20. Both bat at sort of 5/6 position, who can do the holding job as well as the finishing one. Both can chip in with a couple of overs each and the association with the Capitals might help.
