Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman delivers a delivery during the Asia Cup cricket match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Sharjah: Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif has urged everyone to play a “waiting game” regarding the controversy surrounding Bangladeshi cricketer Mustafizur Rahman and his association with Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).“I am not that knowledgeable, I am sitting here in Dubai for 2-3 weeks. What will be the decision? Everything comes under BCCI, the decision is in their hands,” Kaif, a commentator in the ILT20, said on the sidelines of the competition in UAE.
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“I’m not going to sit here and share an opinion because it’s a sensitive issue. You should play a waiting game because what’s happening, what the movement will be, we can write (but actually) there is no movement,” he continued.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SIGN UP NOW!“So I think we shouldn’t just jump the gun. We should just wait and watch, whatever the decision is, the BCCI is sitting there, the big leagues are running, they know what to do and how to do it,” said the former India cricketer.Earlier, spiritual leader Devkinandan Thakur launched an attack against Bollywood actor and KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan over the signing of Mustafizur in the IPL auction, calling him a “traitor”.Thakur controversially said, “The way Hindus in Bangladesh are being persecuted, women and girls are being raped, their houses are being burnt and anti-India slogans are being chanted. Despite all this, traitors like Shah Rukh Khan, I call him a traitor because everything he has is given from India, where are they investing money from India, where are they investing money? who is working against India,” he told ANI.Clarifying that the remarks were not driven by personal animosity, he said, “I have never met Shah Rukh Khan. I don’t know him. I have only seen his posters. I don’t watch movies. I don’t do things that spoil the character of the world.”He added: “I am a Hindu religious leader and Hindus are being killed. Hindus are being killed in Bangladesh and you have brought a Bangladeshi cricketer into your team?”
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The matter has sparked political reactions across the country, with leaders from the BJP, Congress, NCP, CPI(M), Samajwadi Party and Shiv Sena (UBT) weighing in.The comments come amid tensions over the safety of Hindus in Bangladesh. Dipu Chandra Das, a garment factory worker in Bangladesh’s Mymensingh district, was beaten to death by a mob on alleged charges of blasphemy, his body was hanged and set on fire.Another Hindu youth was lynched in Hosendanga village of Kalimohor Union in Pangsha Rajbari sub-district on charges of extortion.
