The decision to instruct IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders to release Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman from its squad wasn’t the outcome of discussions among members of the Indian cricket board — the league’s governing council wasn’t consulted, either.
“We ourselves got to know about this through the media. There was no discussion. No suggestion was taken from our side,” a top BCCI official, who is also associated with the IPL, told this newspaper.
BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia did not respond to a query from The Indian Express on whether a board meeting was convened or the IPL governing council kept in loop on the Mustafizur move.
On Saturday, explaining the board’s stand on the issue, Saikia had said, “Due to the recent developments that are going on all across, BCCI has instructed the franchise KKR to release one of their players, Mustafizur Rahman of Bangladesh, from their squad.”
On Monday, Bangladesh’s Information and Broadcasting ministry banned the telecast of IPL matches in their country, saying that the move “to release” Mustafizur “has hurt and angered the Bangladesh citizens”.
“Due to this, a request is made as per instructions to stop the broadcast/ telecast of all matches and programmes of the Indian Premier League,” the ministry said in a statement.
Story continues below this ad
The ongoing political crisis involving the two countries has spilled over into the cricket pitch in recent months, with the Bangladesh women’s tour of India postponed indefinitely, and the Indian men’s tour of Bangladesh in August in doubt.
Bilateral tensions have escalated over the past few weeks after a Hindu man was lynched and burned to death in Bangladesh following allegations of blasphemy. Last month, India’s Ministry of External Affairs had condemned what it called “unremitting hostility against minorities”.
Bangladesh’s interim leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, condemned the lynching, saying there was no space for such violence in the new Bangladesh. “The perpetrators of this heinous crime will not be spared,” his government had said.
In this context, KKR’s decision to pick Mustafizur for IPL 2026 had led to the franchise owner, Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, being targeted.
Story continues below this ad
Among those who took aim was spiritual leader Jagadguru Rambhadracharya, who called the actor “anti-national”. Shiv Sena leader Anand Dubey said Rahman would not be allowed to play at “any cost”. Later, welcoming the move to oust Mustafizur, West Bengal BJP leader Dilip Ghosh had said: “Like Pakistani cricketers are not allowed to play in India, Bangladeshi cricketers should not be allowed in India.”
The backlash from across the border was equally strident. Asif Nazrul, the interim government’s advisor for Youth and Sports in Bangladesh, posted on Facebook: “We won’t stand for any insult to Bangladesh’s cricket, cricketers and the country. The days of slavery are over.”