'The country should always come first' - Former Bangladesh captain defends BCB's stand on Mustafizur Rahman

Mustafizur Rahman, the left-arm Bangladesh pacer, is currently involved in the Indian Premier League in its 17th edition, playing for the Chennai Super Kings. He has played a crucial role for CSK this year, securing 10 wickets in five matches and currently ranks third on the list of leading wicket-takers (IPL Orange Cap) so far, with him securing his best bowling figures in the cash-rich tournament in the curtain-raiser of IPL 2024.

However, the pacer must curtail his involvement with CSK and return to Bangladesh to join the Tigers for their upcoming five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe, slated to begin on May 3, 2024.

After Abhani Limited's match against Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on 18th April, former Bangladesh captain and current coach of Abhani Limited, Khaled Mahmud Sujon, stated that he felt the country always takes precedence over anything else. Ideally, he would've been more than happy if Mustafizur had played the entirety of the IPL, and it would've not been a hassle if there were no international series coming around the corner. While drawing parallels to New Zealand's board allowing most of their first-team players to go ahead with playing the IPL during which they send a second-string side to tour Pakistan, a crude reality was the fact that Bangladesh unfortunately didn't possess replicas of Mustafizur.

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"At the end of the day, I believe the country should always come first. I would've been glad if Mustafizur could've played the whole IPL. There would've been no issues if the national team didn't have any series. Now, some may say that the New Zealand cricketers are staying back for the IPL. But, we don't have 10-12 bowlers like Mustafizur, we need to keep that in mind as well," Sujon said.

Maybe, he didn't mean it like that: Sujon on Jalal's remark

A day before Sujon's statement came the BCB's chairman of cricket operations, Jalal Yunus' contentious disclosure regarding there being nothing to imbibe for Mustafizur while playing in the IPL. Sujon clarified what Jalal would've intended to convey, adding that Jalal might've meant that Mustafizur was no more a newbie unlike the likes of Tanzim Hasan Sakib, and that instead, the young Indian pacers breaking onto the scene could learn a thing or two from Mustafizur.

Also Read: Mustafizur has nothing to learn from playing in IPL: BCB official Jalal Yunus

"You can learn from everywhere. Maybe, he [Jalal] didn't mean it like that. He probably meant that Mustafizur has been playing for many years, he is not a young pacer like Tanzim Hasan Sakib. He is already a very big name in world cricket. He probably meant it from that angle. The young Indian pacers can learn from Mustafizur, that's what he meant," stated Sujon.