Defending the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s decision to bring back Mustafizur Rahman for the upcoming Zimbabwe T20I series instead of letting him play in Indian Premier League 2024, BCB’s cricket operations chairman Jalal Yunus said that the fast bowler has nothing to learn in the Indian tournament. It is worth noting that Mustafizur is currently playing for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2024. He was set to return to Bangladesh on May 1 as per the no-objection certificate received from the BCB, but his stay has been extended by a day on request from CSK. The five-time champions made the request to play Mustafizur in one additional game. CSK take on Punjab Kings on May 1.
“We are letting Mustafizur play till May 1. He’s coming back on May 2 and will be available from the following day,” Yunus said in Mirpur as quoted by Bangladesh’s publication ‘Daily Star’.
Mustafizur has played a key role in CSK’s IPL 2024 campaign so far, picking 10 wickets in the first five matches.
“Mustafizur has nothing to learn from playing in the IPL. Mustafizur’s learning process is over. Rather, there are many players in IPL who can learn from him. Bangladesh will not benefit from this,” Yunus said.
“Our concern is Mustafizur’s fitness. They want to take 100 percent 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,” he added.
Mustafizur is set to travel back to Bangladesh for the side’s home T20I series against Zimbabwe from May 3 to 12. This will be followed by a T20I series against the United States of America, starting in Texas on May 21.
