Bengaluru, Jan 3 (IANS) Devkinandan Thakur, spiritual leader and renowned 'Kathavachak', whose questioning of a Bangladeshi player in the Shah Rukh Khan-led franchisee in the Indian Premier League (IPL) triggered a huge outcry and led to his ouster, on Saturday, welcomed the Board of Control of Cricket in India's (BCCI) decision to drop him from the T-20 tournament.
Hailing the Indian cricket board's decision, directing Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to bar the Bangladeshi player Mustafizur Rahman from the IPL squad, Thakur thanked the BCCI to have paid heed to his appeal.
"We had appealed that Bangladeshi cricketers should not be allowed to play in the IPL. Today, the BCCI has issued an order stating that no Bangladeshi cricketer will participate in the IPL. We are very grateful to the BCCI for this decision, but KKR didn't understand the feelings and the pain of Hindus," the spiritual leader said.
He criticised the actor and his KKR franchisee, equating their silence to hurting the religious sentiments of the Hindu community.
He said, "Despite the killing of Hindus in Bangladesh, KKR kept a Bangladeshi cricketer and did not even bother to issue an official statement. We all Hindus as well as members of the Sanatan Nyasa foundation are sad and hurt by this behaviour."
"We are going to remember that you did not stand with us during our pain and sorrow," he added.
Earlier on Saturday, the KKR dropped the Bangladeshi fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman from their squad for the 2026 edition, following the instructions by BCCI.
On the other hand, Masood Uz Zafar Amini, coach of cricketer Rinku Singh, said that sports and politics should not be mixed because it will have a bad effect on the game.
Amini while speaking to IANS said, "Mustafizur Rahman is a cricketer first -- Hindu or Muslim comes later. Other teams in the IPL had also bid for Mustafizur, before KKR bought him. There should be no politics with players. There should be a distinction between the game and politics, players are different from religion and such incidents keep taking place."
"But since it's a decision of the nation and the BCCI has taken it, we have to abide by it," he added.
--IANS
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