Doubts remain over Mustafizur Rahman's IPL participation this year, despite his replacement deal with Delhi Capitals.
Yesterday (May 14), DC announced that they had signed the Bangladesh international for INR 6 crore, as a temporary replacement for Australian opener Jake Fraser-McGurk, who would not be returning to the IPL as the tournament resumes this Saturday following a suspension due to cross-border tensions between India and Pakistan.
The rules around player replacement signings were amended by the league yesterday, allowing teams to sign players even beyond their 12th match of the season (the normal deadline for securing replacements). However, no player signed after the league was suspended is eligible for retention next year.
BCB CEO: Not received any communication from IPL
Concerns over Mustafizur's availability began soon after the deal was announced by both the IPL and Delhi Capitals. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury told The Daily Staron Wednesday that "We have not received any communication from IPL officials. I am not sure whether Mustafizur has asked for any NOC [No-Objection Certificate] either."
Mustafizur cannot participate in the IPL without an NOC from the BCB. However, this may prove difficult to obtain as last week, Mustafizur was named in Bangladesh's T20I squad to play against the UAE on May 17 and 19.
On the same day as his signing with DC was announced, the Bangladesh squad departed for the UAE – with Mustafizur on the plane as well.
Mustafizur's IPL participation remains up in the air due to national commitments
On Thursday (May 15), a report from Cricbuzz quoted a BCB director as saying the board did not have an objection to Mustafizur playing in the IPL, but that granting him the NOC would set an unwanted precedent: "We are not saying that we won't let Mustafizur play in the IPL for the Delhi Capitals but at the same time, there is a thing called national commitment and he needs to fulfil that."
"Along with that, if we had released him in that case, what would we have done with the two cricketers who took part in PSL, as they could have asked why we were not releasing them? We don't want to be in a position that allows any Board to point a finger at us."
The two PSL cricketers referred to here are Rishad Hossain (Lahore Qalandars) and Nahid Rana (Peshawar Zalmi). Both have been selected for the UAE series, like Mustafizur.
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The BCB appear to now be in the tricky position of having to be uniform with their granting/non-granting of NOCs – if one is granted to an IPL player but not to PSL players (or vice-versa), it could well cause a diplomatic headache given the current state of India-Pakistan relations.
If NOCs are granted to all three players, Bangladesh would lose three key players from the national team squad, and perhaps have to call up replacements. This would hurt the national team, and cause further logistical issues – not ideal for the BCB themselves. At this point of time, it does appear that denying NOCs to all three players might be the wisest course of action from the board's point of view.
Even if Mustafizur is eventually granted an NOC, there are only three games for which DC are confirmed to need his availability at this point – their remaining league fixtures on May 18, May 21 and May 24. Only if they qualify for the playoffs, will they need him to be available beyond that.
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