'Bangladesh isn't Pakistan, it doesn't send terrorists': Shashi Tharoor slams BCCI over Mustafizur's IPL release
Tharoor said cricket should not be dragged into political controversies and described the BCCI’s move as "absolutely appalling”
India's opposition Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has sharply criticised the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for instructing IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to release Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman, saying the decision reflects an unwarranted politicisation of sport.
In an interview with The Indian Express yesterday (4 January), Tharoor said cricket should not be dragged into political controversies and described the BCCI's move as "absolutely appalling".
Tharoor's remarks came after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) decided not to send its national team to India for next month's T20 World Cup, citing security concerns and government advice. The decision followed the BCCI's directive that led to Mustafizur's release from KKR.
"Bangladesh is not Pakistan. Bangladesh has not been dispatching terrorists across the border. It's not a comparable situation at all," Tharoor said, adding that India's diplomatic relationship with Bangladesh is fundamentally different from that with Pakistan.
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He questioned the rationale behind targeting KKR for selecting Mustafizur, noting that teams were allowed to choose players from a pool approved by the BCCI itself. "If a player was included in the registered pool, why is a franchise to be blamed for selecting him?" he asked.
Tharoor said it made no cricketing sense and appeared to be a knee-jerk reaction to social media outrage. He also raised concerns about singling out an individual player who, he said, has never engaged in hate speech or made any statements against India.
"There is a moral issue here," Tharoor said. "Why must cricket alone bear the burden of public anger when India continues to engage with Bangladesh at multiple levels? Who are we victimising here – a professional sportsman who has done nothing wrong?"
Tharoor further questioned whether the move signalled discrimination, asking whether Bangladeshi Hindu cricketers such as Litton Das or Soumya Sarkar – both of whom have played in the IPL before – would have faced similar treatment had they been selected.
