Mustafizur Row: Bangladesh to boycott T20 World Cup matches in India

Dhaka: With IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) axing Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman from their squad, the country’s sports ministry has announced that the national cricket team will not visit India for next month’s T20 World Cup.

What has the BCB decided? 

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) confirmed the decision not to visit India for the World T20 after a meeting attended by 17 board directors on Sunday. However, Bangladesh do not want to boycott the tournament, although they are no longer willing to play their T20 World Cup matches in India, and want them to be shifted to Sri Lanka.

"We have sent a letter to the ICC requesting that our match be moved from India to Sri Lanka,” BCB director Khaled Mashud Pilot told the media. 

“If they have said they cannot provide security to one of our players, how will they ensure the security of our entire team? That is why we will not go there to play," he added.

The BCB has also requested the country’s information and broadcasting ministry not broadcasting the IPL in Bangladesh.

The BCB also announced that its will also write to the BCCI seeking a formal explanation for the decision to exclude Rahman from the IPL.

How has the Bangladesh government reacted?

The Bangladesh government has slammed the BCCI for the decision to axe Rehman from the KKR squad.

 “What happened with Mustafizur in the IPL is despicable. Bangladeshi citizens have witnessed the politics of hatred in this incident and are deeply saddened,” Bangladesh’s adviser on cultural affairs Mostofa Sarwar Farooki said in a statement on social media platform Facebook.

“As you know, the Bangladeshi Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already expressed concern about the persecution of minority communities in India over the past few days. The relevant authorities will surely investigate whether this incident is also driven by the same motive. The safety of our cricket or football teams there in the future will also surely be considered,” he added.

What led to the controversy?

KKR had acquired Rehman’s services at the IPL 2026 auction which prompted widespread anger in India with a host political leaders and Hindu spiritual gurus accusing franchise co-owner Shah Rukh Khan to be a traitor. The upswell of public anger forced the BCCI to issue an official directive, asking KKR to exclude the Bangladesh pacer from the squad.

The reaction in India against the KKR decision was fuelled by a series of attacks against Hindus in Bangladesh. KKR had secured Rahman’s services for ₹9.20 crore after a bidding war at last month’s auction in Abu Dhabi.