KKR or BCCI - Who's to be Blamed For Putting Mustafizur Rahman in Middle of Political-Religious India-Bangladesh Storm Ahead of IPL 2026?

IPL 2026: We are roughly three months away from the start of the Indian Premier League, but the cash-rich league has been in the news because of Bangladesh's premier pacer Mustafizur Rahman. The Bangladeshi is an IPL veteran, featuring in the extravaganza called, IPL since 2015. He is a death-over specialist and a match-winner in his own right. 

KKR Face Ire Over Mustafizur

The left-arm pacer was picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders at the mini auction last year for a whopping Rs 9.2 Cr. But since he was lapped up by KKR, there has been unending controversy and the pacer finds himself right in the middle of that. 

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Due to India's poor diplomatic relations with Bangladesh in recent times, political and religious undertones have entered the conversation surrounding Mustafizur. While this is absolutely wrong, unfortunately this is how it is. In fact, his inclusion in KKR has sparked reactions from religious groups in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain, and now that has turned a sporting decision into a national debate. 

This is a snowballing row - and now that the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) - has assured to give visa to him to feature in the IPL, the Indian board is facing criticism. The outrage of the fans in India with the call taken by the BCCI has a lot to do with violence against Hindu minorities in Bangladesh. 

KKR or BCCI - Who's to be Blamed? 

There is no doubt that both the Indian board and the IPL franchise have to take the share of the blame. 

KKR bought the player, while the BCCI is speaking with the government of India and the franchise in question to get the player a visa to come to India and play cricket.