A few hours ago, the Delhi Capitals (DC) announced that Bangladeshi left-arm fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman will join them for the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Jake Fraser-McGurk, who opened in 6 matches for them this year, decided that he wouldn’t return to India.
Understanding that foreign players may not return, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to allow teams to use temporary replacements. And so, the Capitals paid Mustafizur Rs 6 crore to join them. The move made sense since Mitchell Starc might not return either. And having a like-for-like replacement for him seems like a sound decision. But Mustafizur may not reach Delhi before DC’s clash against the Gujarat Titans on May 18.
No Mustafizur Rahman for DC?
That’s because the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has stated that they are yet to receive a request for giving Mustafizur an NOC (no objection certificate) for IPL 2025. BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury claims that neither the tournament officials nor the pacer has come to the board regarding the matter.
“Mustafizur is supposed to go with the team to the UAE according to the schedule. We have not received any communication from IPL officials. I have also not received any such official communication from Mustafizur either,” the BCB CEO told ESPNcricinfo.
For the uninformed, the Bangladesh cricket team is set to play a 2-match T20I series against the UAE from May 17 to 19. And if Mustafizur travels to the UAE, he’ll definitely skip DC’s match against GT. The Capitals won’t like this since even losing one game could mean their IPL 2025 Playoffs dream is over. And then having Mustafizur in their team won’t mean much anyway.
DC foreign players in IPL 2025
Mitchell Starc, Faf du Plessis, Mustafizur Rahman (Jake Fraser-McGurk), Sediqullah Atal, Tristan Stubbs, Donovan Ferreira, Dushmantha Chameera
