After huge criticism over the communal violence against Hindus in Bangladesh, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has given strict instructions to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to release the fast bowler. Mustafizur Rahman from his team ahead of the 2026 season of the Indian Premier League. Board Secretary Devjit Saikia has reiterated the same thing in a media statement.
Saikia further suggested that KKR will get a chance to seek a replacement player for the Bangladeshi cricketer. This will be a one-time provision made for the three-time champions, who will not be able to make Mustafizur a part of their campaign in the 2026 season. Notably, the left-arm pacer was the only Bangladeshi international to be sold in the IPL mini-auction.
India Today quoted Devjit Saikia as saying, “Due to the recent developments going on everywhere, the BCCI has directed the franchise KKR to release one of its players, Mustafizur Rahman of Bangladesh, from their team and has also said that if they ask for a replacement, the BCCI is going to allow that replacement.”
The Kolkata-based franchise is now facing a headache in finding a similar replacement for the experienced fast bowler. For those unaware, KKR had opted to bid for the 30-year-old player by paying a huge sum of Rs 9.20 crore for the upcoming season, who will now be freed up, and the franchise will sign another player if needed.
KKR team for IPL 2026: Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Varun Chakraborty, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik, Cameron Green, Finn Allen, Mathisha Pathirana, Tejasvi Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Prashant Solanki, Daksh Kamra, Sarthak Ranjan, Mustafizur Rahman, Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert, Akash Deep, Rachin Ravindra
India's ODI team will be announced today
Saikia further said that the Indian team's squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series will be announced on Saturday afternoon.
Saikia further said, “As you know, India is going to play a three-match ODI series with New Zealand from January 11 and today we have a meeting with the selectors and in the afternoon we are going to announce the team for the New Zealand series.”
Shubman Gill is expected to lead the team in the upcoming series, which is why the opener did not take the field for Punjab's Vijay Hazare Trophy Round 5 match in Jaipur.
Get every cricket update! Follow us,
Leave a Reply