After immense speculations surrounding Mustafizur Rahman’s availability for Kolkata Knight Riders and anti-Bangladesh sentiment ruining their plans, the BCCI has finally broken the silence on Rahman’s participation in the IPL.
In the IPL 2026 mini-auction, Kolkata Knight Riders had the biggest purse in the auction, which meant they could buy any player participating in the auction. They then bought Mustafizur Rahman as the third most expensive player in the mini-auction, although they bought Cameron Green and Matheesha Pathirana in the auction.
The current situation in Bangladesh and intolerance towards Hindus has infuriated Indian Hindus, and an anti-Bangladesh campaign has developed in India. The political and social controversies took an ugly form and also affected the game of cricket.
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BCCI delivers verdict on its stance towards Bangladeshi players
After Mustafizur Rahman was signed as the only Bangladeshi player in the IPL 2026 mini-auction, the bidding team, Kolkata Knight Riders, constantly received threats and warnings not to let him participate in any of the games.
With the anti-Bangladesh movement growing and people calling for Bangladeshi players to be banned from the IPL, just like Pakistani players since 2009, the BCCI verdict was much awaited on the issue.
The BCCI, however, gave a pragmatic verdict, saying that it was not informed of the Indian government taking such steps, and that such decisions are not limited to the BCCI alone. There has clearly been no directive preventing the participation of Bangladeshi players in the IPL.
A BCCI source, responding to the issue, told IANS: “Let’s not get into that. It’s not in our hands. We haven’t received any communication from the government directing us to stop Bangladeshi players from participating in the IPL… There’s not much I can do right now.”
Mustafizur Rahman signing hurt religious sentiments of Hindus in Sanatani
Apart from several political leaders of the BJP government who made several vile remarks about KKR and its owner Shah Rukh Khan and also called him a ‘traitor’ for having Mustafizur Rahman on his side, other religious experts have also weighed in on the matter.
Spiritual guru Devkinandan Thakur criticized the KKR team and its co-owner Shah Rukh Khan, saying they had hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus and followers of Sanatan Dharma. These claims have surfaced based on the cruel spectacle of massacres and deaths of innocent Hindus in the neighboring country.
Although many have emphasized once again that sports should stay away from political conflicts, these are seen on humanitarian grounds and just like Pakistan, the people of Bangladesh should be given the same treatment, according to many political leaders as well as the Indian public.
Mustafizur Rahman’s IPL career at a glance
Mustafizur Rahman, on the contrary, is one of the best pacers Bangladesh has ever produced. Rahman has played in the IPL for over 8 seasons after making his debut in 2016 with Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Since then, he has played for the Mumbai Indians in 2018, the Rajasthan Royals in 2021, the Delhi Capitals between 2022 and 2023 and finally for the Chennai Super Kings in 2024. He returned to the Delhi Capitals the previous season, replacing Australian batsman Jake Fraser-McGurk.
Having played 60 matches in IPL, Mustafizur Rahman has picked a total of 65 wickets and is a veteran of over 250 international matches; hence, the huge amount of INR 9.20 crores meets its standards.
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