"Why was a Bangladeshi player hired for Rs 9 crore?...": VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal on BCCI's decision to release Bangladesh pacer Rahman

New Delhi [India], January 4 (ANI): Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) spokesperson Vinod Bansal on Sunday criticised the Kolkata Knight Riders for hiring Mustafizur Rahman for Rs 9 crore.
The inclusion of the Bangladesh player had sparked a political backlash in India, particularly amid the recent targeting of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh, and various opinions have been raised about Mustafizur's selection by KKR for the IPL 2026 season. Mustafizur was picked up by the Kolkata-based franchise for a whopping Rs 9.20 crore at the IPL auction in December last year.
Speaking to ANI, Bansal questioned why the team hired a Bangladeshi player for such a handsome amount of money amid the systematic and reckless killing of Hindus in the country.
"If KKR considers itself an Indian team, and if they consider the Indian audience as their audience, shouldn't they have been concerned about people's sentiments? Our Hindus are being systematically killed, so why was a Bangladeshi player hired for Rs 9 crore? Were there no other players in the world?..." he said.
BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari also supported the BCCI's decision, saying, "Whatever BCCI did is in the interest of the nation as the nation is above all."
After the backlash, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) confirmed on Saturday that the franchise has excluded Bangladeshi player Muztafizur Rahman from its Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 squad following a directive from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
A media advisory issued by the KKR stated, "Kolkata Knight Riders confirms that BCCI/IPL, as the regulator of IPL, has instructed it to release Mustafizur Rahman from the squad ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season."
Earlier, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said the apex cricket board had instructed the IPL franchise KKR to release Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman "due to the recent developments".
"Due to the recent developments which is going on all across, BCCI has instructed the franchise KKR to release one of their players, Mustafizur Rahman of Bangladesh from their squad and BCCI has also said that if they ask for any replacement, BCCI is going to allow that replacement," Devaijit Saikia told ANI.
After the BCCI's decision, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has decided not to send its senior men's cricket team to India for the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 in India, the Daily Star reported.
The BCB has also asked the International Cricket Council (ICC) to shift Bangladesh's cricket team matches from India to Sri Lanka, the report citing a BCB official added. (ANI)