NEW DELHI: India's cricket board has "advised" the Indian Premier League team Kolkata Knight Riders — majority-owned by Shah Rukh Khan — to release star Bangladeshi fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman, after tensions between the neighbouring nations.
Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Devajit Saikia, said Saturday that "considering recent developments," the IPL team has "been advised to release" Rahman.
"They can ask for a replacement if needed, and upon request, BCCI will allow a replacement player," Saikia told the Press Trust of India news agency.
Kolkata Knight Riders did not immediately respond to the BCCI directive.
Saikia did not give further reason for the move, but the presence of the 30-year-old Bangladeshi provoked criticism by some right-wing Hindu groups after the death of a Hindu man in Bangladesh in December.
India's foreign ministry last month condemned what it called "unremitting hostility against minorities" in Muslim-majority Bangladesh.
Bangladesh's interim leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, has accused India of exaggerating the scale of the violence.
Rahman, who has played in the IPL for other teams in previous editions, was snapped up at auction in December by KKR for more than $1 million.
The 19th edition of the IPL begins on March 26.
