Mustafizur Rahman with MS Dhoni In IPL (Source: AFP)
In a significant development, IPL chairman Arun Dhumal made a noteworthy revelation around the participation of Bangladeshi players in the Indian Premier League. Dhumal suggested that players from Bangladesh will not face any further problems ahead of IPL 2027.
The IPL chair called the ban on Mustafizur Rahman’s participation in IPL 2026 ‘unfortunate’ and emphasised that ‘good sense will prevail’ and the incident won’t be repeated in the future.
Why was Mustafizur Rahman banned in IPL 2026?
For the unversed, the left-arm Bangladeshi pacer was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs. 9 crore in the IPL auction held in December, 2025. However, with India facing anti-Bangladesh sentiment at the time, the BCCI told KKR to release Mustafizur without citing any particular reason.
It escalated into a much larger issue, culminating in Bangladesh refusing to travel to India for the 2026 T20 World Cup. Banned from the IPL 2026, Mustafizur Rahman opted to participate in the Pakistan Super League.
BCB shake-up calls for refreshed relations with BCCI
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) underwent a major political and administrative shake-up.
Following the allegations of irregularities in the previous elections and national backlash over Bangladesh’s withdrawal from the T20 World Cup 2026, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, the government dissolved the board and appointed former captain Tamim Iqbal as the interim BCB president till the next elections.
It is worth noting that the regime change and the newly appointed BCB leadership have actively sought to mend and reset cricketing and diplomatic relations with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Thus, now that the IPL governing council chair Arun Dhumal has officially cleared the air about participation of Bangladesh players in the IPL, the focus shifts to what actions the BCCI will allow around KKR’s Rs. 9 crore recruit, Mustafizur Rahman.
Ways Mustafizur Rahman Can Return To IPL 2027
Famously known as ‘Fizz’ in the cricket fraternity, Mustafizur played his maiden IPL season in 2016 and caught the eye worldwide for his ability to generate good pace and for his deceptive slower one.
Also read: Mustafizur Rahman Creates World Record In Pakistan After Being Discarded By India
In his very first stint, Mustafizur Rahman claimed the IPL Emerging Player Of The Year award. Since then, he has made a name for himself in the league for his lethal yorker and deceptive slower ones.
Read below to know the ways by which Mustafizur can play in the next IPL season.
1) Retained by Kolkata Knight Riders
If BCCI allows, one of the ways by which Mustafizur Rahman could be allowed to step back in the IPL ecosystem is as a KKR retention.
In IPL 2026, KKR acquired Mustafizur’s services to further strengthen their bowling department, which was already bolstered by Indian pacers Harshit Rana and Akash Deep.
However, in an unfortunate turn of events, the Kolkata-based franchise suffered the absence of many of their major players due to several reasons.
This heavily impacted their team combination, leaving them very dependent on their spin duo of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, who also suffered injury scars during the tournament.
They eventually ended their disastrous IPL 2026 campaign in 7th place with an overall record of 6 wins, 7 losses, and 1 no-result from 14 league matches, earning 13 points.
Thus, following the recent developments, KKR will be the happiest franchise and hopes to retain him for the next edition.
That being said, in this article, let’s explore three ways by which the Bangladesh pace ace can make his return in the league ahead of IPL 2027.
2) IPL 2027 Auction Entry
Considering his credibility as a high-impact bowler and keeping it fair for the rest of the franchises, the IPL think-tank could let Mustafizur enter the IPL 2027 mini auction.
On top of that, Mustafizur Rahman was officially released from the KKR squad. Moreover, according to IPL rules, a released player automatically returns to the open auction pool as a free agent, with their previous franchise contract expiring.
In that case, in the next auction, any of the ten teams, including their former one, can bid on Mustafizur. The player can be bought at any new price determined by the bidding.
3) Picked as an injury replacement
Third and the final way in which ‘Fizz’ could be allowed to play IPL 2027 is if he is allowed to be
As stated above, after his snub in the 2026 edition, Mustafizur is now a free player and available to be picked by any of the 10 teams, including KKR, which wants to rebuild its fast-bowling department, which was massively lacking during IPL 2026.
Notably, all these situations are just assumptions and require the BCCI’s approval.
Also read: IPL 2026 Replacement Players Who Can Be Retained Before Next Season
