The sudden ouster of Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman from the upcoming Indian Premier League 2026 (IPL 2026) has sparked a major controversy, and now questions have been raised on the IPL Governing Council’s role and political interference.
Mustafizur Rahman Row: Did Politics Override the IPL Governing Council’s Process?
A storm has exploded around the IPL, and this time it is about power, politics, and a decision that crushed the tradition of transparency in Indian cricket. It is being said that the BCCI solely took the call to remove Mustafizur Rahman from Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) IPL 2026 squad without following any formal process, following the political pressure.
The IPL Governing Council, which is supposed to oversee such matters, was not consulted at all. Even senior members of the BCCI and those closely linked to the league were not taken into consideration, and they learned about the decision only after it surfaced in the media.
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There were massive demands from the fans and Shiv Sena and BJP leaders to ban the Bangladesh players in the IPL and other leagues where the teams are owned by the Indian league franchise owners. Following the intense criticism and campaigns, the BCCI took that shocking call.
BCCI kept KKR and the IPL Governing Council in the Dark?
It is being said that the call to force KKR to release Mustafizur was taken at the very top level of the BCCI. There was no official meeting, no vote, and no collective decision-making before such a massive step was taken, which only added fuel to the fire and questioned IPL GC’s role.
A top BCCI official, who is also associated with the IPL, was quoted as saying by The Indian Express: “We ourselves got to know about this through the media. There was no discussion. No suggestion was taken from our side.”
However, the BCCI secretary, Devajit Saikia, has yet to react to this explosive claim by his colleague. Earlier, Saikia explained the controversial move while talking to ANI: “Due to the recent developments that are going on all across, BCCI has instructed the franchise KKR to release one of their players, Mustafizur Rahman of Bangladesh, from their squad.”
The Political Context: Beyond Cricket
BCCI’s move has already triggered serious consequences beyond the IPL. Bangladesh has refused to travel to India for next month’s ICC T20 World Cup 2026. Later, Bangladesh’s Information and Broadcasting Ministry imposed a complete ban on the telecast of IPL matches in the country, stating that the forced removal of Mustafizur deeply hurt public sentiment and angered their citizens.
Relations between India and Bangladesh were already under strain, and this episode has pushed things further downhill. The Bangladesh women’s tour of India has been postponed indefinitely, while the Indian men’s scheduled tour of Bangladesh is now under serious doubt.
The relations between have worsened in recent weeks after a Hindu man was lynched and burned to death in Bangladesh over blasphemy allegations. India officially condemned the continued hostility against Hindu minorities in Bangladesh.
