BCB official reveals reason behind calling Mustafizur Rahman back from IPL

Jalal Yunus, the chairperson of the cricket operations at the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), has defended the decision to recall Mustafizur Rahman from the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) to join the national side for the T20I series against Zimbabwe.

The BCB has notified the IPL and Mustafizur's franchise, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), that the fast bowler should be allowed to return to Bangladesh to fulfil his national team commitments from May 2 onwards.

Yunus clarified that this decision was made due to fitness concerns for the seasoned pacer, as he is expected to be a key member of Bangladesh's T20 World Cup squad.

“Mustafizur has nothing to learn from playing in the IPL. Mustafizur’s learning process is over. Rather, many players in the IPL can learn from him. Bangladesh will not benefit from this,” Yunus was quoted as saying by Daily Star.

“Our concern is Mustafizur’s fitness. They want to take 100 per cent from him. They don’t have a headache about his fitness, but we do. The reason we are bringing back Mustafizur is not just to play in the Zimbabwe series, but if he is brought here, we will plan him with the workload. But that plan won’t happen if he’s in IPL.”

The decision has affected CSK's plans, as Mustafizur has been their standout bowler, claiming 10 wickets in five matches of this season

Initially, Mustafizur was due to return to Bangladesh on May 1 for their five-match T20 series against Zimbabwe, beginning on May 3.

However, CSK approached BCB to prolong Mustafizur's stay by a day, allowing the left-arm pacer to feature in an additional match for CSK.

Mustafizur Rahman has donned the Purple Cap on multiple occasions this April. The left-arm pacer kicked off the IPL 2024 season in style, taking four wickets against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to steer CSK to a comfortable victory.

The 28-year-old will be part of CSK's upcoming fixtures - two consecutive matches against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), followed by one against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings.