‘Unfortunate and unwise’: Shashi Tharoor on Mustafizur's release from KKR amid Delhi-Dhaka tensions

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor described the BCCI’s order for IPL franchise KKR to release Bangladeshi player Mustafizur Rahman as an “extremely unfortunate and unwise decision” amid rising tensions between New Delhi and Dhaka over violence against Hindus in the neighbouring country.

Rahman’s inclusion in the IPL team sparked backlash from several sections, ultimately leading to his exit from the franchise amid strained ties between India and Bangladesh. Soon after, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) decided not to send its national team to India for the T20 World Cup scheduled next month, citing security concerns and government directives.

Speaking to news agency ANI, the senior Congress leader reiterated that sports should be “kept apart” from politics and not made to “bear the burden” of political failures.

He said, “The fact of the matter is that there are many other ways in which we are dealing with Bangladesh, as we have to. Our foreign minister was just there a couple of days ago, meeting the man who is widely expected to be the likely winner of the next election and therefore the likely prime minister. We are conducting various aspects of engagement with the people of Bangladesh.”

Speaking on the issue of atrocities against minorities in Bangladesh, Tharoor said India was already urging the country’s interim government to restore law and order and take action against unlawful groups on the streets.

“At such a delicate moment, this seems to me to have been an extremely unfortunate and unwise decision because what it implies is that we are politicising even such a simple aspect as a private cricket game,” he said.

Tharoor added, “It is also troubling that we have seen the kind of social media outrage driving policy. Some things, I think, should be beyond this kind of thing.”

Saying that the “game must go on”, the Congress leader added, “When you have tensions with countries, sport becomes a good way of diffusing those tensions. What has been done has only exacerbated the tensions and made them worse.”

The IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders, co-owned by Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, has released the Bangladesh left-arm pacer after he was picked up for ₹9.20 crore during the auction held in Abu Dhabi last month.

Rahman’s removal from the IPL led the Bangladesh Cricket Board to hold an emergency meeting on Saturday night.

The following day, the board of directors met again and decided that the national side would not travel to India for the T20 World Cup, which begins on February 7.