Mustafizur should not have been denied KKR contract in IPL: Shashi Tharoor

Shashi Tharoor, a lawmaker from India's main opposition party Congress, has said Bangladeshi cricketer Mustafizur Rahman should not have been denied his contract for Kolkata Knight Riders in the forthcoming Indian Premier League season.

"I don't think that Mustafizur should have been denied his contract to play in Kolkata. It was most unfortunate. Intrusion of politics… Pakistan is trying to show its solidarity with Bangladesh," Tharoor was quoted by the news agency ANI as saying today (2 February).

Besides, he called the boycott by Pakistan of its match against India in the T20 World Cup "pretty disgraceful" and said the politicisation of cricket is spiralling out of control.

"We need to come to an understanding that sports, especially cricket, should bring people together. This is now a wake-up call for all concerned to contact each other on an emergency basis. The ICC could be the platform for it – just say, let's call off this nonsense. You can't go on like this forever," Tharoor said.

BCCI Vice-President Rajeev Shukla said the International Cricket Council (ICC) is right in warning Pakistan of severe repercussions for its selective pull-out from the high-profile T20 World Cup contest against India in Colombo on 15 February.

Pakistan's decision, conveyed through an official government statement, is being seen in India as a political protest linked to Bangladesh's removal from the ICC T20 tournament after the world body declined its request to shift matches from India to Sri Lanka on security grounds.