I may have earned BDT 1 crore had I played IPL: Mustafizur Rahman

Mustafizur Rahman was not granted No Objection Certificate (NoC) by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) earlier this month. Mumbai Indians (MI) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had approached the left-arm pacer after one of their players got injured. But Sri Lanka tour was materialising then for Bangladesh and for the same reason, BCB denied NoC to Mustafizur.

However, it turned out to be a double blow for the pace bowler as even Bangladesh tour of Sri Lanka for the Test series got postponed. BCB was not ready to comply with the 14-day quarantine rule in the island nation and accordingly, the board asked the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to reschedule the tour. According to the previous schedule, the first Test was set to start on October 24.

But this left Mustafizur Rahman doing nothing. He is neither playing in the IPL nor touring Sri Lanka. However, the left-hander isn’t taking it to the heart and has rather stated that the BCB would’ve granted him the NoC if they knew Sri Lanka tour would get postponed. But the pacer ended up losing BDT 1 crore (approximately INR 87.23 lakh) after losing a chance to feature in the cash-rich league.

“It would have been great to play the Test series. Sri Lanka’s proposal to have us quarantined for 14 days didn’t seem possible for us. You can’t sit in your room before such an important series, no matter how hard you train. BCB tried, but the 14-day quarantine is their law. I think we should respect it.

“If the BCB knew that the Sri Lanka series would be postponed, they would have given me the NoC for IPL. But whatever happens, happens for the best. I may have earned BDT 1 crore had I played the IPL,” he was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

No compensation for Mustafizur Rahman from BCB

Last time Mustafizur Rahman wasn’t granted NoC to play in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in 2015-16 season. The board had compensated him then with BDT 30 lakh. However, this time around, BCB Cricket Operations Chairman, Akram Khan, has cleared that there is little to no chance of Mustafizur getting any compensation. He clarified that the bowler wasn’t picked by any IPL team and hence, he won’t be getting compensation.

“Because he had injury concerns, we did not allow him to go (PSL) and we tried to compensate him. This time it’s a different matter. He was picked by a team in the PSL while the negotiation was in the preliminary stage (IPL), and it is a fact that no team has picked him. We have not given him NoC for national interest, so there is very little chance of giving him any compensation,” Akram said.