Bangladesh pace bowler Mustafizur Rahman will return home for eight days during the Indian Premier League to play a limited-overs series against New Zealand.
Mustafizur was signed by Kolkata for 9.20 crore rupees at the IPL auction, the highest price ever paid for a Bangladeshi player.
However, he will not be available for the full tournament, which runs from March 26 to May 31.
New Zealand are scheduled to tour Bangladesh in April for three one-day internationals and three Twenty20 matches.
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BCB’s cricket operations chief Nazmul Abedin said Mustafizur would return to Bangladesh specifically to play the ODI series.
Bangladesh’s decision is driven by qualification concerns for the 2027 ODI World Cup. Only the top nine teams in the ICC rankings by February 15, 2027, will earn direct entry. Bangladesh are currently ranked tenth.
Nazmul dismissed concerns that switching from the T20 intensity of the IPL to ODIs could be difficult for Mustafizur, suggesting the opposite might be true.