Mustafizur Rahman not to play IPL anymore
Mustafizur Rahman has found himself in a spot of bother as the Bangladesh Cricket Board has forbidden the pacer from participating in overseas T20 leagues. The decision comes after Bangladesh's recent Test series loss to West Indies. The injury-prone bowler missed the two-match Test series after being ruled out due to a toe injury he picked up in the Indian Premier League earlier.
BCB takes a stern decision
The president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board is livid that injuries picked up by the left-arm pacer in global T20 leagues are preventing him from representing Bangladesh on a regular basis. Mustafizur, who represented Mumbai Indians in IPL 2018, also missed the T20I series against Afghanistan, where Bangladesh were decimated 3-0. Being their main asset in pace attack, BCB has taken a stern decision.
Mustafizur's history of global T20 league injuries
The young fast bowler picked up a shoulder injury while playing in the T20 Blast in England very early in his career. Rahman also missed out on a few initial games in the 2017 edition of the BPL after sustaining a grade-two lateral ankle injury while warming up for a football drill on a tour of South Africa.
Here is what the BCB president had to say
BCB president Nazmul Hassan went on to claim that, "It cannot go on that he will be undergoing rehabilitation to recover from injuries under the care of the board, join those leagues again only to have a similar fortune". Hassan also opined that Mustafizur doesn't want to play Tests as he believes that such long games would increase his chances of getting injured.
Bangladesh's performances have taken a hit
Bangladesh haven't quite managed to put up a show of late and the two successive series losses have hurt the side. Losing against Afghanistan and now the West Indies in two different formats is one thing, but the manner in which they have lost is alarming. With or without Mustafizur, the team would have crippled anyways owing to their on-field body language.
Our view: Is the decision a right one?
The BCB needed to address the issue and forbidding Mustafizur has sent a message to the rest, that country comes before leagues. Skipper Shakib Al Hasan has been a shadow of himself and the rest have failed to rally behind him. A big decision, indeed!
