IPL 2020: MI, KKR Approach Mustafizur Rahman, Bowler Denied NOC By BCB

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has denied fast-bowler Mustafizur Rahman a no-objection certificate to participate in the Indian Premier League due to his obligations with the Bangladesh team. The reason behind BCB refusing to give the left-arm pacer the go ahead is their upcoming tour of Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh are scheduled to tour Sri Lanka for a three-match Test series, which is scheduled to begin on October 24, at a time when IPL will be on in UAE. IPL 2020 is scheduled to be played from September 19 to November 10. The series against Sri Lanka will be Bangladesh’s first since the pandemic hit the world.

As per reports in Cribuzz, both Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Mumbai Indians (MI) approached Mustafizur Rahman after both the franchises lost one pacer from their respective squad. While KKR have lost the services of Harry Gurney, MI lost Lasith Malinga.

MI recently announced they have roped in Australia’s James Pattinson to replace Malinga while KKR is yet to announce their replacement. But it is very  much confirmed that Mustafizur Rahman won’t be the replacement.

“Yes, he [Mustafizur] had an offer from the IPL but we did not give him NOC as we have the Sri Lanka tour coming up,” BCB cricket operation chairman Akram Khan told the news outlet.

Last year, BCB had allowed Mustafizur Rahman to register for the IPL in order to regain his form though the board had also barred the pacer from playing T20 leagues because of injury concerns. The decision came after the pacer had a poor outing in the T20I series in India last year. He had managed to pick up only one wicket in the three games and leaked runs at 9.51.

Following the series, he failed to find any suitor in the IPL auction. He, however, has the experience of playing in the IPL. He has played for Sunrisers Hyderabad and MI in the IPL. In his first season in 2016, he helped Sunrisers win the IPL title by picking up an impressive 16 wickets.

In 2017, he played just one game before being signed up by Mumbai Indians ahead of the 2018 season. He managed to pick up just seven wickets in seven games and was released after the season ended.

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