When the Indian Premier League begins at the end of March, Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman is expected to line up for Kolkata Knight Riders as the tournament’s only Bangladeshi player. But before a ball has been bowled, his participation has been thrown into doubt after religious leaders in the Indian city of Ujjain issued threats opposing his involvement.
Mustafizur, set to be the lone Bangladeshi cricketer in the upcoming IPL, was signed by KKR for 9.2 crore Indian rupees. The tournament is due to begin at the end of March and run for nearly two months.
However, controversy has erupted even before the competition begins. Several religious figures in Ujjain, in the state of Madhya Pradesh, have publicly opposed Mustafizur taking the field and have issued threats of disruption.
Mahabir Nath, chief priest of the Rinmukteshwar Mahadev temple, said, “Ascetic warriors will not allow matches to take place with a Bangladeshi player. They will enter the ground and carry out vandalism.” Calls to boycott Kolkata Knight Riders have also circulated on social media.
The opposition has been linked to recent incidents in Bangladesh that have heightened tensions. On December 18, a Hindu labourer named Dip Chandra Das was killed in Mymensingh amid allegations of religious insult, though those claims were later found to be unsubstantiated. Six days later, another Hindu man, Amrit Mondal, was killed in Rajbari.
Against this backdrop, uncertainty has grown over how long Mustafizur will be able to feature in the IPL this season.
Bangladesh Cricket Board president Aminul Islam Bulbul said the matter would be handled by the board’s cricket operations department. “The decision will be taken after considering the IPL schedule and the national team’s commitments,” he said.
Those commitments are significant. Bangladesh are scheduled to play New Zealand in April, with three one-day internationals and three Twenty20 matches. The BCB’s cricket operations committee chairman, Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, recently indicated that Mustafizur would need to return home for eight days during the IPL window.
For now, Mustafizur’s high-profile move to the IPL remains clouded by uncertainty, with off-field tensions threatening to overshadow what was meant to be a landmark season for the Bangladesh left-armer.
