After days of unfortunate digital attacks on Kolkata Knight Riders and its co-owner Shah Rukh Khan, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has intervened to put a stop to potential controversies. BCCI's secretary Devajit Saikia has revealed that the Board has informed KKR to release their Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman amidst growing social media backlash.
Mustafizur was signed by KKR at the IPL 2026 Auctions in Abu Dhabi on December 16 for a big price of Rs 9.20 crore. Ever since the left-arm pacer was purchased by the three-time champions, social media has been abuzz with a lot of digital protests aimed at the franchise and Shah Rukh in the aftermath of the Hindu lynching incidents in Bangladesh over the last one month.
With Mustafizur's inevitable exit, KKR have the option of picking a replacement of their choice. Considering the unique nature of this situation, the BCCI has reportedly given them the freedom to pick any player as the replacement without any restrictions. An official announcement from the KKR side is expected.
"Due to the recent developments that are 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" said Saikia to ANI.
What initially started as social media outrage has escalated over the last week with several senior religious leaders in India entering the debate and threatening to disrupt KKR's games in the 2026 season. In fact, leaders from Ujjain have already warned of invading those venues where the Knight Riders play, if Mustafizur is in the squad.
#WATCH | Guwahati | BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia says, "Due to the recent developments that are 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… pic.twitter.com/53oxuRcmZp
— ANI (@ANI) January 3, 2026
With more religious leaders in the mix, this controversy had the potential to escalate to unwanted levels and that is precisely why the BCCI has decided to step in. Even if you go by protocol, it was always the BCCI's directive, given that they had Mustafizur in the auction pool in the first place.
