Bangladesh's new government has reversed a previous ban on the Indian Premier League (IPL), with Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapan confirming no restrictions on broadcasting the tournament in the country.
This move marks a major shift from the previous stance taken in January 2026 by the interim government, which had imposed an indefinite ban on all IPL telecasts and promotions after the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), on the instructions of the BCCI, released Bangladeshi pacer Mustafizur Rahman from his contract.
Speaking to Deutsche Welle, Swapan stated that the current government looks at the IPL from a commercial perspective rather than mixing it with politics, welcoming local and international broadcasters to air the league.
“No one applied to us to telecast the IPL. We don’t want to mix politics with sport. We will look at it from a commercial perspective,” Swapan said.
“We will not bar anyone from telecasting it. If Star Sports wants to telecast it, they can. If any of our channels want to telecast it, we will take it positively, but we will not force anything,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Cable Operators Association of Bangladesh has also backed the development, stating that there are no directives in place to prevent the telecast of IPL matches. Its office secretary, Rezaul Karim Lablu, said the operators are free to carry IPL broadcasts unless fresh official instructions are issued.
Lablu further stated that the directives from the previous interim government under Muhammad Yunus, which had ordered the ban, "do not have any value".
"If Star Sports telecasts the IPL in Bangladesh, they can do it because no one has asked us to stop it. Those directives of the interim government do not have any value. If this government asks us to stop it, we will do so, because the previous government's directives are no longer in place,” Lablu said.
The 19th edition of IPL is all set to get underway on March 28, with ablockbuster opening match between defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
