3 reasons why Delhi Capitals signing Mustafizur Rahman for remainder of IPL 2025 is the wrong move

Delhi Capitals (DC) have signed Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman for the remainder of the IPL 2025 season. The left-arm quick has been signed for ₹6 crore, replacing Australian batter Jake Fraser-McGurk in the squad.

After a week-long suspension, the IPL 2025 season is set to resume on Saturday, May 17. Due to the break and revised schedule, teams could lose several key players as certain overseas stars are unlikely to return for the remainder of the season.

Therefore, the BCCI has allowed teams to sign temporary replacements for the rest of the season. These players will not be eligible for retention next year.

Delhi Capitals became the first team to make use of this arrangement, signing Mustafizur Rahman as a replacement for Jake Fraser-McGurk, who will not return this season.

Mustafizur brings in immense experience, having played at the international level and in the IPL as well. He can also bolster DC's bowling attack in the possible absence of Mitchell Starc. However, here are three reasons why this signing is the wrong move:

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#3 Mustafizur Rahman's past record with Delhi Capitals

This is set to be Mustafizur Rahman's second stint with Delhi Capitals in the IPL. He previously played for them in 2022 and 2023. While he has been among the wickets in his IPL career, picking up 61 wickets from 57 matches, he doesn't have a great record with DC.

In the 2022 season, he played eight matches and picked as many wickets at an average of 30.50. In 2023, he played only two games for Delhi, taking one wicket at an average of 79 and an economy rate of 11.28.

This year, with Delhi locked in an intense race for the playoffs, they will hope for him to put up a better display than his past record with the franchise.

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#2 Bowlers will similar skill sets

With Mitchell Starc likely to be unavailable for the rest of the season, Mutafizur Rahman appears to be a like-for-like replacement, although named as a replacement for Jake Fraser-McGurk.

However, Delhi Capitals already have T Natarajan and Mohit Sharma in their ranks. Mustafizur is known for his ability to bowl yorkers, slower balls, cutters, and variations along similar lines.

T Natarajan and Mohit Sharma are also bowlers with similar skill sets, who have the ability to bowl yorkers, slower deliveries, and cutters. Therefore, this could be a missed opportunity for Delhi Capitals to add some variety to their pace attack.

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#1 NOC issue and availability concern

While Delhi Capitals announced Mustafizur Rahman as their replacement signing on Wednesday, May 14, there are availability issue for the franchise.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has not issued Mustafizur a No-Objection Certificate (NOC). The pacer is a part of Bangladesh's squad for the two-match T20I series against the UAE in May and the five-match T20I series against Pakistan in May and June. These series will clash with the IPL 2025 dates.

Mustafizur Rahman also put up a post that he is heading to the UAE for the series, which casts a major shadow over his availability for the remainder of the IPL 2025 season despite having been signed as a replacement by Delhi Capitals.