On Wednesday, May 14, Delhi Capitals announced that they have signed the Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman. He replaces Jake Fraser-McGurk, who withdrew from the tournament for personal reasons. Mustafizur was bought for a staggering price of INR 6 crore, which in itself is unusual for a replacement player, especially for whom there is a possibility to appear in barely six matches.
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The matter got interesting when Mustafizur, on his way to the UAE for the two-match series ending on May 19, just two days after the kick-start of the IPL, posted his picture on Instagram. The matter got further complicated when BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury pointed out that no clearance had been sought by either IPL or Delhi, while Mustafizur himself had never spoken to them about it.
“Mustafizur is supposed to travel with the team to the UAE per schedule. We haven’t received any notice from IPL officials, nor from Mustafizur,” Chowdhury told ESPNcricinfo on the Wednesday.
Delhi is yet to comment on the matter. Mustafizur was brought in to replace Mitchell Starc, who is seemingly out for the IPL playoffs and possibly the rest of the tournament. The statuses of Faf du Plessis and Tristan Stubbs are also up in the air. Stubbs has been called up for the WTC final and the South African coach has claimed no clearance will be provided after the May 25 date.
The BCCI and the franchise have had an ongoing liaison with Cricket South Africa since then. Nothing being final so far, however, South African players might still be on the debatable table, given that six Indian teams have come under SA20. Those that will be out incase of the tournament are Sam Curran and Jamie Overton of CSK, as well as Jofra Archer of RR, who will miss out on their final tournament matches.
