3 Bangladesh Players You Didn’t Know Played In The IPL

In Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman, the country of Bangladesh has blessed the Indian Premier League (IPL) with two of the finest T20 cricketers of the past two decades. Both players have over 60 IPL appearances under their belt, and both are IPL winners who, to this date, continue to be relevant in the T20 circuit. 

That being said, outside Shakib and Mustafizur, there has hardly been any Bangladeshi participation in the IPL. In fact, these are the only two folks who have played more than one IPL match. 

Litton Das (KKR, 2023) was the most recent of them all, but do you remember the other three?

Mohammad Ashraful 

Back in IPL 2009, Mohammad Ashraful, once Bangladesh’s finest ever batting talent, played a solitary game for the Mumbai Indians. Indeed, Ashraful shared a dressing room with Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, Lasith Malinga and others.

Ashraful batted at No.4 against Delhi Daredevils, but had a torrid debut, posting 2 off 10 balls. He was put out of his misery by Pradeep Sangwan. 

Ashraful never played another IPL game after this. 

Mashrafe Mortaza

More people might remember Mashrafe Mortaza’s IPL stint because of the assault Rohit Sharma launched on him while playing for the Deccan Chargers. However, that fateful night, to this date, remains Mortaza’s one and only IPL game. 

To recap, Deccan needed 21 off 6 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders, and Rohit ended up taking 26 off that over. Mortaza’s figures read 0/58 off 4. Somehow, a debut worse than that of Ashraful. 

Abdur Razzak 

The left-arm spinner was the first-ever Bangladeshi player to play in the IPL. Abdur Razzak played for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the inaugural edition.

However, he, too, endured a very poor debut. Razzak bowled 2 overs and conceded 29 runs while taking no wickets. His side, RCB, suffered a heavy 65-run defeat in that clash, which came against Rajasthan Royals.