Bangladesh Suspends Broadcast Of India Cricket Tournament After Row Over Player

NEW DELHI, Jan 5 (Bernama) -- Bangladesh has suspended the broadcast of all Indian Premier League (IPL) matches after the Indian cricket board dropped a Bangladeshi player from the tournament.

The decision shuts the high-stakes, money-spinning tournament out of a cricket-loving nation of more than 170 million people.

“The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting today issued a letter stating that all matches and events of the IPL will remain suspended in Bangladesh until further notice,” news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha reported on Monday.

Earlier, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) instructed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), one of the IPL teams, to drop 30-year-old Bangladeshi fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman from the upcoming season.

Bangladesh has its own IPL-style T20 cricket tournament known as the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), which began on December 26 and will run until January 23.

The BCCI's directive on Mustafizur Rahman followed a wave of virulent social media backlash against KKR and its Bollywood actor co-owner Shah Rukh Khan for signing a Bangladeshi player in the midst of frosty bilateral relations. The fallout is being felt beyond India’s domestic tournament.

In a statement on Sunday, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had requested the International Cricket Council (ICC) to relocate all of Bangladesh's matches in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 to a venue outside India.

India and Sri Lanka are co-hosting the T20 World Cup from February 7 to March 8.

-- BERNAMA