Mustafizur Rahman, the Bangladesh pacer, is all set to feature in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League as the Bangladesh Cricket Board has given him a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to play in the tournament.
Rajasthan Royals had picked Mustafizur at his base price of INR 1 crore during the 2021 IPL players’ auction.
BCB’s chief selector Minhajul Abedin confirmed the development to Cricbuzz and added that the board feels that it’s better for Mustafizur to play in the tournament considering he is not included in their Test plans for the two-match series against Sri Lanka, scheduled next month.
“We have given him NOC for IPL as he is not in our Test plans for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka,” said Minhajul on Saturday. “It’s better if he plays there and gains some experience.”
BCB had reacted sharply when all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan had opted to take part in the IPL at the expense of skipping the tour of Sri Lanka and there was a further rift with the board after Shakib insisted that he was misinterpreted.
BCB threatened to reconsider his NOC before taking a U-turn on revoking Shakib’s NOC for IPL and the all-rounder left for India on Saturday.
After seeing the response of the board and the public outcry following Shakib’s plea to allow him to be a part of IPL, Mustafizur insisted that he was ready to skip the IPL if he was to be chosen to play against Sri Lanka.
“My first priority is to play for my country and if I am picked in the Test series against Sri Lanka, I will naturally play. If I am not picked then BCB will tell me that I am not included. At that point, if I am given NOC to play in the IPL then I will play but patriotism comes first for me,” said Mustafizur regarding his IPL plan.
Last year, BCB had denied NOC to Mustafizur as they had revealed plans to allow Bangladeshi players to take part in only two franchise-based T20 tournaments per year.
However, the board eventually moved away from this stand and allowed Shakib with the NOC to take part in the IPL, at the expense of national duty, and according to BCB president, in the coming days, they won’t force anyone to play for the country.
