Mustafizur Rahman unavailable for entire IPL 2026; here's how many days KKR will miss Bangladesh's left-arm pacer

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has issued a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to pacer Mustafizur Rahman but will return for national duty for eight days. Mustafizur, who has plied his trade for Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals in IPL before, was bought for ₹9.20 crore during the auction recently by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

A left-arm seamer is a must for any team in T20 cricket and Mustafizur became a perfect replacement for Mitchell Starc, who played a huge role in KKR's title-winning campaign in IPL 2024. With Matheesha Pathirana, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, Cameron Green, Sunil Narine and Vaibhav Arora in the side, KKR have one of most potent bowling attacks.

While the IPL 2026 is rumoured to be starting on March 26, Bangladesh will host New Zealand in three ODIs and three T20Is around that same time. The exact dates of Bangladesh vs New Zealand series are yet to be announced.

BCB cricket operation chairman Nazmul Abedin informed that Mustafizur will miss only eight days of IPL 2026 due to national duty as Bangladesh are desperate to win the ODI series against New Zealand and qualify for the 2027 World Cup directly. Currently placed 10th in the ICC rankings, a historic series win over the Kiwis will hell Bangladesh in rankings.

“We have given Mustafizur an NOC for the entire IPL. He will only return to play for the national team during the New Zealand ODI series, which consists of three matches," Cricbuzz quoted Nazmul as saying.

“He will return for eight days to play the ODI series,” he added.

KKR meant business during IPL 2026 auction

Entering the auction with ₹64.30 crore, KKR made some serious shopping during the auction in Abu Dhabi. They bought Green for ₹25.20 crore and Pathirana for ₹18 crore besides securing the services of Mustafizur, Finn Allen and Tim Seifert among overseas recruits. The three-time champions have also roped in several uncapped Indians.

With Andre Russell retiring from IPL, Green could actually fill that all-rounder's void in the playing XI.

KKR's full squad for IPL 2026

Players bought at auction: Cameron Green, Finn Allen, Matheesha Pathirana, Tejasvi Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Prashant Solanki, Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert, Mustafizur Rahman, Sarthak Ranjan, Daksh Kamra, Rachin Ravindra, Akash Deep.

Retained: Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Manish Pandey, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Charkravarthy.