As soon as it was announced that the Delhi Capitals had purchased Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman for the rest of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, there was confusion. The CEO of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), Nizam Uddin Chowdhury, mentioned that Mustafizur already has national commitments. He is supposed to travel to the UAE with his team for matches.
Delhi Capitals had said Mustafizur would fill in for Australian batsman Jake Fraser-McGurk on Wednesday; the latter will not be available for the whole IPL 2025. Later this month, Bangladesh will travel to the United Arab Emirates for a two-match T20 International series against the UAE.
In this statement, Nizam Uddin Chowdhury said, “Mustafizur is supposed to go with the team to the UAE according to the schedule. We have not received any communication from IPL officials.” He further added that he has not received any official confirmation or communication regarding this from Mustafizur as well.
Following these two T20 games on May 17 and 19, Bangladesh will then head to Pakistan to play five matches, which will be played on May 25, 27, and 30; June 1 and 3. Even if DC is unable to qualify for the playoffs, they are supposed to play the last three games of the league on the 18th, 21st and 24th of May, which is conflicting with the games Bangladesh will be playing.
Having made his IPL debut in 2016, Mustafizur has represented the Delhi Capitals in the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He played two games for the team in the following season, having eight wickets in eight games in 2022 at an economy rate of 7.62. The 29-year-old Bangladeshi player has played in 38 games over his IPL career, claiming 38 wickets with an economy rate of 7.84. Having represented several teams in the league, he has a reputation for his efficient bowling all through an innings.
