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Published : 04 Jan 2026, 05:15 PM
A day after Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman was dropped from the 2026 Indian Premier League, Information and Broadcasting Advisor Syeda Rizwana Hasan has said the government could “not remain silent”.
She said the interim administration will consider its response after reviewing the legal implications.
Rizwana made the remarks at a meeting held at the Secretariat by the Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum on Sunday.
“A decision will be taken after reviewing legal aspects of the matter. There is no way to remain silent. We have to respond,” she said.
Mustafizur was scheduled to play for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in this year’s IPL. But KKR dropped him on Saturday following a directive from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
In an immediate reaction after the decision to exclude the 30-year-old left-handed pacer, Sports Advisor Asif Nazrul, in a Facebook post on Saturday, requested the information and broadcasting advisor to halt the broadcast of IPL matches in Bangladesh.
Nazrul, in his post, also mentioned that the BCCI had instructed the KKR to drop Mustafizur by “bowing to extremist communal groups”, a move he said he “condemns and protests”.
He said he also instructed the BCB to explain the matter to the ICC, seeking to change the venue of the World Cup from India to Sri Lanka over security concerns.
Rizwana in her speech regretted that politics has been brought into sports.
Cultural exchanges and sports are often considered as the means to reduce political tension between two countries, she said.
“But here we have seen the exact opposite happening,” she said.
She believes Bangladesh needs to take a stance over the matter.
The decision to drop a player who had been signed by a team hurts people’s sentiment and draws reactions, she said.
The BCB at an emergency meeting on Sunday decided to not travel to India to play their matches in the T20 World Cup.
