Bangladesh cricket captain Litton Das has publicly criticised his country's decision to pull out of the 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup in India. He revealed that the players wanted to play but were forced to skip the tournament by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the interim government. The former administration in Bangladesh chose to withdraw from the 2026 T20 World Cup, which took place earlier this year, claiming that India was not safe for their team. Because Bangladesh refused to travel and the ICC would not shift the tournament venue, Scotland replaced Bangladesh in the event. Speaking to the local media, Litton Das rejected claims from former sports adviser Asif Nazrul that the players agreed with the boycott.

He explained how the critical meeting went down. “I said that we played cricket in Pakistan, where they used to stand with guns outside the room. What could be more dangerous than that? But this was their call; we had no say as players," Das remarked. Das argued that if the team could play under such dangerous and heavily armed conditions in Pakistan, there was no valid reason to skip playing in India over alleged safety fears. The decision to skip the World Cup triggered heavy backlash within the cricket community. To investigate the matter, the current Bangladesh government has set up an official inquiry committee to look into the controversial withdrawal and find out the true motivations behind the previous regime's choices.

Litton Das' exposes BCB’s T20 World Cup 2026 meeting

Litton Das has dropped an explosive breakdown of exactly what happened behind closed doors. His interview with the media outlet Prothom Alo exposes a massive divide between the national cricket team and the government that controlled them. Das revealed that the players were completely misled about the purpose of the official January meeting. The players went into the government building thinking it was a standard, relaxed chat. Das stated, "Our mindset was to have tea in an AC room". The meeting was already scripted. The decision to boycott the tournament in India had already been made by top political and board leaders.

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Das explicitly called the meeting a "media stunt". The government wanted a photo-op to show the public that the players were too afraid to travel and fully supported skipping the World Cup. Former sports advisor Asif Nazrul had told the media that the team chose to stay home due to safety risks. Das completely rejected this claim."We, of course, did not want to fight; we wanted to play cricket,” Das further stated. They begged the board to let them go to India, arguing that politics should not ruin their careers. Their requests were entirely dismissed. He has now admitted that the players were terrified of political backlash from the previous interim regime. They were forced to put on a fake act for the public while their spots in a major ICC World Cup were handed over to Scotland.