BCCI Top Brass' Role Instrumental In Mustafizur Rahman’s IPL Ouster: Report

The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s top brass played the major role in deciding to oust Mustafizur Rahman from IPL 2026, with board members or even the IPL governing council members not having any say in the decision, according to a report in The Indian Express.

Bangladesh was scheduled to play three T20 World Cup games in Kolkata and one in Mumbai, but after Rahman’s ouster, the cricket board in the neighbouring country has refused to travel to India to play its matches.

Drawn in Group C, Bangladesh were due to face the Windies in their opening game at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on February 7 and compete against England, Italy and Nepal.

“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 said while speaking to The Indian Express.

On Saturday, January 3, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia explained the board’s position, saying, “In light of recent developments, BCCI has directed the KKR franchise to release Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman from their squad.”

On Monday, Bangladesh’s Information and Broadcasting Ministry banned the telecast of IPL games in the nation, stating that KKR’s decision to release Rahman has hurt and angered the citizens of Bangladesh.

“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 I&B Ministry said in a statement.

The ongoing political tensions between the two nations have spilt over into cricket in recent months, leading to the postponement of the Bangladesh women’s tour of India and putting the Indian men’s tour of Bangladesh in August in doubt.

Bilateral tensions have intensified in recent weeks after the lynching and burning of a Hindu man in Bangladesh over alleged blasphemy. In December, India’s Ministry of External Affairs condemned what it described as ‘unremitting hostility against minorities’.