T20 World Cup: Will hasty IPL ban on Mustafizur affect the showpiece?

A somewhat knee-jerk reaction from the BCCI on Saturday to ask IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders to remove Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rehman, sees the regional geopolitics casting a shadow on the T20 World Cup – which is only less than a month away.

If Bangladesh stick to their decision of not travelling to India for the marquee event, it will only add to the ICC’s plate of woes ahead of yet another prestigious event.

The drift from across the border is that Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), which had earlier decided to shoot letters to the ICC as well as the BCCI to seek a reassurance on the safety of their national team during the tour of India, later decided to harden their stance and want their matches shifted to co-hosts Sri Lanka.

While the T20 World Cup is an ICC event and non-participation there can technically lead to punitive measures, BCB can always point out at the precedent of both India and Pakistan refusing to tour each other due to ‘’threat perceptions’’ from their government.

Asif Nazrul, the Sports Advisor to the interim government in Bangladesh, had demanded on Saturday that the BCB should also play hardball and request the ICC to shift their matches to co-hosts Sri Lanka instead. ‘’The board must make it clear that if a Bangladeshi cricketer, despite being under contract, cannot play in India, then the Bangladesh national team cannot feel safe travelling to India to play the World Cup. I have also directed the board to formally request that Bangladesh’s World Cup matches be held in Sri Lanka instead,’’ he had posted on his personal X handle.

Confirming the decision taken by BCB to not travel to the India, Nazrul again took to social media on Sunday afternoon: ‘’We welcome this decision taken in contest of the violent communal policy of the BCCI.’’

It’s a proposal easier said than done, as there are major financial and economic ramifications involved for the world governing body of the game – which has been incurring additional expenses on travelling and logistics alone since the ‘hybrid model’ had been adopted for India and Pakistan’s matches since the ICC Champions Trophy last year.

If the ICC were at least fully prepared with contingency plans during both the Champions Trophy and the Women’s World Cup in 2025, the World T20 is almost on the doorstep with Liton Das and his men scheduled to leave for India on 26 January for the customary warm-up games.

 As per the current schedule, Bangladesh are supposed to be initially based in Kolkata to play their first three matches at the Eden on 7, 9 and 14 February and then move to Mumbai for their final group-stage match on the 17th. The water-tight schedule of a T20 World Cup means on all four dates, three matches are already scheduled, set to take place in the morning, afternoon and evening across two venues in India and one in Sri Lanka.

It could be seen as a kind of posturing by the BCB and it’s a no-brainer that back channel talks must have got underway, but there are questions being raised if the BCCI had acted with undue haste – that too for the IPL which is scheduled much after the T20 World Cup in India in April-May.

Mustafizur, a key member of his country's pace attack, has been named in the Cup squad on Sunday and the controversial IPL ban may further embolden the radical Hindu groups to target the squad in general and Fizz (as he is nicknamed) in particular.

The World T20, incidentally, is coming back to India after 10 years and is expected to be moneyspinner – what with the 2021 edition shifted to the UAE due to Covid pandemic.  

A potentially explosive step as the IPL ban on Mustafizur under such circumstances reeks of double standards and somewhat unfair on KKR management.

As many as seven Bangladesh players had been included in the shortlist for IPL auction in November with due diligence by the BCCI – despite the relationship between India and Bangladesh blowing hot-and- cold since 2024 ever since the Sheikh Hasina regime was overthrown and the former Prime Minister has found a refuge in India. If the cricket board had wanted to steer clear of any controversy, they could have applied the brakes there itself.

The left-arm pacer, incidentally, had been a part of the Dubai Capitals team in the just-concluded IL-T20 in Dubai, a team owned by GMR Holdings, co hosts of IPL franchise Delhi Capitals. Meanwhile, allrounder Shakib Al Hasan had also turned the clock back for MI Emirates (owned by Reliance Group of Mumbai Indians) in the same franchise league.

Surely, one cannot be looking at selective bans of Bangladesh players. Say what?