Bangladesh Cricket Board breaks silence on calls to exclude Mustafizur Rahman from IPL

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Aminul Islam emphasised the cricketing links with India amid growing demands from Indian politicians that the neighbouring country's cricketer Mustafizur Rahman should not be allowed to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in view of violence against minorities in Bangladesh.

Rahman was picked by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the mini auction for IPL 2026 in Abu Dhabi. Aminul Islam said the BCB believes in viewing this issue from a cricket perspective.

"We will monitor the entire matter until the end, because we are people of cricket. We believe in looking at this issue from the perspective of cricket, not politics," Aminul Islam Bulbul told ANI.

KKR spent Rs 9.20 crore for Mustafizur Rahman

Three-time IPL champions KKR spent Rs 9.20 crore to get the services of Bangladesh pacer for the 19th edition of the cash-rich league. The BCB president told ANI over the phone from Sylhet that IPL is not an ICC cricket event but a domestic event.

"Only one player from Bangladesh is on the Kolkata Knight Riders roster: Mustafizur Rahman. So we will see what happens until the very end; we will monitor it till the end. We always encourage the game of cricket," he said.

"India is our neighbouring country, and we have a very good cricketing relationship with them--a very good cooperative relationship in cricket," he added.

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KKR's bold picks in IPL 2026 mini auction

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) sent out a clear message at the IPL 2026 mini-auction with some big-name signings. The franchise brought Cameron Green, Matheesha Pathirana and Mustafizur Rahman as their major buys to strengthen both their batting and bowling units after a forgetful season of the cash-rich league.

The 2024 IPL champions also focused on building squad depth by adding players like Finn Allen and Rachin Ravindra. Familiar faces Tim Seifert and Rahul Tripathi were brought back as well, giving the team a good mix of experience and fresh talent ahead of the new season.

KKR squad

Ajinkya Rahane, Sunil Narine, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Varun Chakravarthy, Ramandeep Singh, Ankul Roy, Rovman Powell, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik

KKR picks in IPL mini auction

Cameron Green (25.20 cr), Matheesha Pathirana (18 cr), Mustafizur Rahman (9.20 cr), Tejasvi Singh (3 cr), Finn Allen (2 cr), Tim Seifert (1.50 cr), Rahul Tripathi (75 L), Kartik Tyagi (30 L), Daksh Kamra (30 L), Sarthak Ranjan (30 L), Prashant Solanki (30 L), Akashdeep (1 cr), Rachin Ravindra (2 cr)