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