Mushfiqur Rahim, the Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batsman, has entered the auction as a late entrant for the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to be held in India from April 10 at a base price of INR 1 crore.
The veteran has been a part of the auction since the inaugural edition in 2008 and has gone unsold every time-as many as 13 times. Despite having impressive numbers for the Bangladesh national team, he hasn’t found any buyers for the time being. The Bogra-born also is currently the leading run-scorer in Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).
Mushfiqur Rahim Debuted In 2006 And Played 86 T20Is And 202 T20s
The IPL 2021 auction is all set to take place on Thursday, February 18 in Chennai and it remains to be seen if he finally gets lucky and bags an IPL contract with any of the 8 franchises. Earlier, NIBCO, the company, which handles the 33-year-old’s account, stated that Mushfiqur Rahim hadn’t registered for the auction and decided to opt-out citing the unlucky factor.
“We have not made any submission for Mushfiqur Rahim for IPL this time,” an official from the NIBCO was quoted as saying to New Age earlier.
Mushfiqur Rahim has been an integral part of the Tigers’ T20 team after making his debut way back in 2006. In 86 T20Is, the right-hander has amassed 1,282 runs at a modest average of 20.03 and strike-rate of 120.03. He also has five half-centuries besides his name. In the T20 format, he has 4,288 runs in 202 matches at an average and strike-rate of 28.97 and 127.96 respectively.
He also has to 25 half-centuries in the shortest format. However, even as Bangaladesh’s Mohammad Ashraful, Mashrafe Mortaza, Abdul Razzak, Shakib Al Hasan, and Mustafizur Rahman have taken part in the IPL for different franchises but Mushfiqur Rahim’s luck hasn’t been all that great, going unsold.
Mushfiqur Rahim Is The Leading Run Scorer In The History Of the Bangladesh Premier League And Was Involved In A Spat With Teammate Nasum Ahmed
The Bogra-born is currently the leading run-scorer in the history of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). In 85 matches, he has 2274 runs with 15 half-centuries. He also has a top-score of an unbeaten 98. Lately, he played for the Beximco Dhaka in the inaugural Bangabandhu T20 Cup. Though his team was unable to qualify for the final, Mushfiqur Rahim showed his class with the bat in hand.
In 10 games, he managed 297 runs averaging 35.87. He was also involved in a controversy when he almost hit his own teammate, Nasum Ahmed, after some confusion between the duo. Mushfiqur Rahim later issued an apology for the same.
He was criticized for trying to hit his teammate, Nasum Ahmed, following an incident in the eliminator of the Bangabandhu T20 Cup where both of them were going for the same catch. Both of the fielders avoided a collision and the catch was taken by Mushfiqur Rahim, who was captain of Beximco Dhaka.
He was visibly annoyed and threatened to throw a punch at his teammate. Mushfiqur Rahim has since apologized to his teammate and the BCB fined him 25% of his match fees and issued one demerit point for the incident.