Bangladesh’s cultural affairs adviser Mostofa Sarwar Farooki has strongly condemned the decision to remove Mustafizur Rahman from the 2026 Indian Premier League, calling the move by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) “shameful”.
The reaction follows a directive issued by the BCCI on Saturday, which led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to immediately release the Bangladesh pacer from their squad. KKR had bought Mustafizur for INR 9.2 crore at the IPL auction held in Abu Dhabi on 16 December.
In a Facebook post late on Saturday night, Farooki wrote that what happened to Mustafizur was “shameful” and said the incident had deeply hurt the people of Bangladesh. He added that citizens had witnessed what he described as “politics of hatred” surrounding the decision.
Farooki suggested the incident could be linked to broader allegations of persecution of minority communities in India, an issue on which Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already expressed concern in recent weeks. He said it would need to be examined whether the same motives influenced the treatment of Bangladeshi cricketers and raised questions about how safe Bangladesh’s cricket and football teams would be in India in the future.
The controversy has also prompted serious concerns over Bangladesh’s participation in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup. Sports adviser Asif Nazrul questioned whether the Indian authorities would be able to guarantee the safety of the entire Bangladesh squad if security could not be ensured for a single contracted player in the IPL.
Nazrul has instructed the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to formally approach the International Cricket Council (ICC) and request that Bangladesh’s World Cup matches be shifted from India to Sri Lanka. The tournament will be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka next month, with Bangladesh scheduled to play four group-stage matches in Kolkata and Mumbai.
The sports adviser also said he had informed the relevant authorities to stop the broadcast of the IPL in Bangladesh during the tournament, which is scheduled to take place between March and May. Farooki confirmed that he would convey the same position to the adviser responsible for information and broadcasting.
