Mustafizur Rahman's IPL Ouster: BCCI Official Shares Inside Details Of Big Decision
The decision to release Mustafizur was made at the highest BCCI level without consultation with its officials or the IPL Governing Council.
- Mustafizur Rahman was released from his IPL 2026 contract by Kolkata Knight Riders on BCCI orders
- The decision to release Mustafizur was made without consulting all BCCI or IPL Governing Council members
- "We ourselves got to know about this through the media. There was no discussion," a BCCI official said
Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman's release from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 contract only seems to be the start of an unprecedented test of cricketing relations between the two countries. On the instructions of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Kolkata Knight Riders released the veteran seamer, leaving the Bangladesh government and its cricket board fuming. As the BCB now looks to get its team's T20 World Cup 2026 matches shifted from India to Sri Lanka, it has been reported that the decision to release Mustafizur wasn't even consulted among BCCI officials or the IPL Governing Council.
According to a report, not all members of the BCCI and the IPL governing council were in the meeting where the decision to release Mustafizur from his IPL contract was taken. In fact, the report claims that the decision to release the left-arm pacer, bought for INR 9.20 crore in the auction last month, was taken at the highest level of the board.
"We ourselves got to know about this through the media. There was no discussion. No suggestion was taken from our side," the Indian Express quoted a BCCI official as saying.
It was the BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia who announced the big decision on Saturday. He 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."
In reply to the BCCI's decision, the Bangladesh government announced a nationwide IPL telecast ban until further notice. "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 Bangladesh ministry said in a statement.
Bilateral tensions between India and Bangladesh escalated over the past few weeks after a Hindu man was lynched and burned to death. Since the first incident a few weeks ago, a number of Hindu minorities have been attacked and killed in Bangladesh. Since the first incident was reported, KKR and their co-owner Shah Rukh Khan have been targeted on social media.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Mustafizur Rahman