Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman was Saturday released by Indian Premier League team Kolkata Knight Riders after the cricket board "advised" it to do so, following tensions between the neighbouring nations.
Mustafizur, who has played in the IPL for other teams in previous editions, was snapped up at auction in December by Kolkata for more than $1 million.
Devajit Saikia, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said that "considering recent developments" Kolkata were "advised to release" the 30-year-old.
Kolkata, majority-owned by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, subsequently said that his "release has been carried out following due process and consultations".
"BCCI will allow Kolkata Knight Riders a replacement player in line with IPL replacement regulations," the team said in a statement on X. The 19th edition of the IPL begins on March 26.
Meanwhile, Indian politician and Member of Parliament (MP) Shashi Tharoor slammed the decision of removal of Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman's from the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) squad for IPL 2026 and questioned if it had been done if he would have been a Bangladeshi player of a different religious identity.
In a tweet posted soon after Mustafizur was officially released by the KKR, Shashi Tharoor called out the BCCI for 'deplorably' forcing Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman's removal from the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) squad for IPL 2026, doubling down on his belief that politics should not be dragged into sports.
"Recalling my views on the subject, now that BCCI has deplorably pulled the plug on Mustafizur, I would like to ask what if the Bangladeshi player in question had been Litton Das or Soumya Sarkar? Who are we punishing here: a nation, an individual, his religion? Where will this mindless politicising of sport lead us?" he wrote. According to Indian reports, pressure had been mounting on KKR and its owner Shah Rukh Khan from ruling party BJP's politicians and religious leaders to release Mustafizur, who they had bought for a INR 9.20 crores in the IPL mini-auction.
On Friday, Tharoor had spoken on the matter to Indian news agency ANI and said unequivocally that cricket and politics should not mix. "Cricket should not be made to bear the burden for attacks on minorities in Bangladesh… we should try and insulate some areas from others," he said.
