The Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) decision to instruct Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to release Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman was not taken after a discussion among top officials. Reportedly, the top official revealed that he learned about Mustafizur losing out on Rs 9.2 crore like common people.
“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 the Indian Express.
The report further stated that BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia was asked for clarification but he did not respond. If the report is to be believed, no board meeting was called to discuss the matter. It was nearly a directive to release the Bangladeshi pacer.
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"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,” Saikia had said in a media release on January 3.
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What steps did Bangladesh govt. take after Mustafizur’s ouster?
In response, the Bangladesh government instructed the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) write a letter to the International Cricket Council (ICC) requesting shifting out their T20 World Cup 2026 matches out of India. BCB director Faruque Ahmed in an exclusive interaction with India Today had said that the decision was taken citing concerns about players’ security. He wants a hybrid model similar to India-Pakistan matches to be followed for Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup clashes as well. Pakistan are playing all their T20 World Cup matches in Sri Lanka.
In a follow-up decision, Bangladesh government also asked their Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to suspend telecast of the IPL for an indefinite period.
KKR co-owner unfairly targetted
Mustafizur’s ouster is a result of violent attacks on Hindu minority in Bangladesh. It led to right-wing groups questioning the inclusion of Mustafizur in the team. While, three franchises bid for Mustafizur’s services in the IPL 2026 mini-auction, KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan became an easy target. In the previous season, he had played a few games for Delhi Capitals (DC) who bid for him as well. Before that, he was a part of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as well, the other franchise who bid for him at the auction.