BCCI advises Kolkata Knight Riders to release Bangladeshi fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman amid diplomatic tensions between India and Bangladesh.
INDIA’S cricket board has advised an Indian Premier League team to release star Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman.
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia said the Kolkata Knight Riders have “been advised to release” Rahman “considering recent developments”.
“They can ask for a replacement if needed, and upon request, BCCI will allow a replacement player,” Saikia told the Press Trust of India news agency.
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The Kolkata franchise, majority-owned by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, did not immediately respond to the directive.
Saikia did not give a further reason for the move.
The presence of the 30-year-old Bangladeshi player had provoked criticism from some right-wing Hindu groups in India.
This followed the death of a Hindu man in Bangladesh in December.
India’s foreign ministry last month condemned what it called “unremitting hostility against minorities” in Muslim-majority Bangladesh.
Bangladesh’s interim leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, has accused India of exaggerating the scale of the violence.
Rahman was snapped up by KKR for more than USD 1 million at an auction in December.
He has played in the IPL for other teams in previous editions.
The 19th edition of the lucrative Twenty20 tournament begins on March 26. – AFP
