Politics in cricket: Mustafiz loses Tk 90m, ICC stands to lose Tk 60b
ICC T20 World Cup
The news first broke on 16 December last year. In the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, Mustafizur Rahman was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 92 million (9.20 crore), the highest price ever paid for a Bangladeshi cricketer in the world’s most popular franchise league. Bangladeshi cricket fans welcomed the news with obvious pride and satisfaction.
That satisfaction, however, proved short-lived. Under pressure from extremist groups in India, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) ultimately instructed KKR to release Mustafizur on 3 January. What has unfolded since can scarcely be described as cricket. If anything, it resembles an action film, complete with opposing camps, confrontation, retaliation and counter-retaliation, yet conspicuously devoid of the game itself.
Ironically, from the highest echelons of cricket administration to roadside tea stalls, one still hears the familiar refrain: the action on the field is what matters most.
In reality, the opposite is increasingly true. With each passing day, what happens off the field is assuming greater significance than what happens on it, and ordinary cricket lovers are bearing the brunt. They are the ones being repeatedly wounded, and ultimately, the game itself is suffering the damage.
If one must taste politics in order to enjoy sport, how long can one’s attachment to the sport survive? One is reminded of Banafool’s short story The Death of the Reader: are we now witnessing, slowly and quietly, the death of the cricket fan?
