'Mustafizur Rahman enjoys playing in the IPL more than playing for national team': Bangladesh pacer's stunning claim raise questions

Bangladesh pacer Shoriful Islam recently made an interesting claim about his compatriot Mustafizur Rahman, who is currently playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Ruturaj Gaikwad-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Shoriful Islam said that Mustafizur enjoys playing in the IPL more than playing for the country due to the lower pressure in the franchise-based T20 tournament and there is an opportunity to play independently.

Mustafizur enjoys playing in the IPL: Shoriful Islam

Shoriful Islam added that he follows every game his national teammate Mustafizur Rahman Plays for CSK in the ongoing IPL. Notably, Mustafizur is the only Bangladesh player who is playing in a cash-rich league. He has been playing the IPL since 2016. He has claimed 11 wickets in six matches for CSK in IPL 2024 so far.

"I watch every game and every ball Mustafizur bowls. I talk to him the day after the matches. I think he [Mustafizur] enjoys playing in the IPL more than playing for the Bangladesh team. It is because the pressure is less there. Perhaps, there are a lot of expectations when playing for Bangladesh and you come under immense pressure if you don't play well," Shoriful said as quoted by Cricbuzz.

 

"He (Mustafizur) is performing regularly. It is just that he has been unable to perform in the last two or three games (for the national team). What I mean by pressure is that everyone's expectations are quite high because of his performance over the last couple of years. Perhaps he couldn't meet the expectations in the last one or two games," Shoriful concluded.

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Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) extended Rahman's No-Objection Certificate (NOC) to play for CSK in the IPL 2024. Now, he will be able to play till CSK’s match against Shikhar Dhawan’s Punjab Kings (PBKS) on May 1. However, BCB’s cricket operations chairman, Jalal Yunus made a rather interesting remark on Mustafizur's stint in IPL 2024. He said that he has nothing to learn in the IPL. He also claimed that the Chennai-based franchise doesn’t care about his fitness ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024, which will kick off in June in the USA and West Indies. 

"Mustafizur has nothing to learn from playing in the IPL. Mustafizur's learning process is over. Rather, many players in IPL can learn from him. Bangladesh will not benefit from this," Yunus said, as quoted by The Daily Star.

 

"Our concern is Mustafizur's fitness. They want to take 100 per cent from him. They don't have a headache about his fitness, but we do. The reason we are bringing back Mustafizur is not just to play in the Zimbabwe series, but if he is brought here, we will plan him with the workload. But that plan won't happen if he's in IPL," Yunus said further.

Mustafizur Rahman will be returning home soon to join the national squad for the Zimbabwe series that kicks off on May 3.

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