The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has denied an NOC to Mustafizur Rahman for IPL 2020, a BCB director said on Friday. Akram Khan, the cricket operations chairman, said that Bangladesh's tour of Sri Lanka in October and November was the reason for the denial.

ESPNcricinfo understands Kolkata Knight Riders were interested in Rahman at one point to replace Harry Gurney.

"There was an offer from the IPL but since we have a tour coming up, we didn't give him the NOC. He is an important cricketer for us and this upcoming series is also important," Khan told the Dhaka-based bdnews24.com.

Rahman, however hasn't been in Bangladesh's Test plans since March 2019. He took 20 wickets in the 2019 World Cup, after which he has only played ODIs and T20Is for Bangladesh.

He last played in the IPL in 2018, turning out for Mumbai Indians. In seven matches that season, he took seven wickets at an average of 32.85 and an economy rate of 8.36. Rahman had much more success with Sunrisers Hyderabad, who he played for in 2016 and 2017, although he featured in just one game in 2017. In 17 matches for SRH overall, he collected 17 wickets at 26.16 and an economy rate of 7.14 - his figures somewhat spoiled by his solitary outing in 2017 in which he bowled 2.4 overs for 34 runs without picking up a wicket.

He had returned from his stint in 2018 with an injury, after which BCB president Nazmul Hassan had said he won't be allowed any more NOCs to participate in overseas leagues.