Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Bangladesh captain Litton Das raised fresh questions over his team’s participation in the upcoming T20 World Cup after Rangpur Riders were knocked out of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on Tuesday.Litton was speaking after Rangpur lost a tense, low-scoring qualifier to Sylhet Titans. Chasing just 112, Sylhet won off the last ball when Chris Woakes hit Faheem Ashraf for a six. Rangpur’s exit came moments before Litton walked into the press conference.
Asked whether the slow pitches in the BPL were good preparation for the T20 World Cup, Litton replied bluntly: “Are you sure we are going to play in the World Cup?”“In fact, there is still a long time to go before the World Cup, and we are not even certain whether we will go at all. This is by no means an ideal wicket for T20 cricket. We had expected a much better wicket for a qualifier match,” Litton said, as quoted by Bangladeshi media The Daily Star.When questioned if the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had discussed its World Cup decision with him, Litton was clear. “No,” he said. Asked if such a discussion should have happened since he is the T20I captain, he added, “I don’t know, but it hasn’t happened with me.”The uncertainty comes after Bangladesh rejected what it called “unreasonable conditions” set by the ICC for participating in the T20 World Cup in India. Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Nazrul said Bangladesh would not accept pressure. “If the ICC bows to pressure from the Indian cricket board and imposes unreasonable conditions on us, we will not accept them,” he said.Nazrul also pointed to past examples. “There are precedents in international cricket, when India refused to play in Pakistan, the ICC changed the venue. We have reasonably asked for a venue Change,” he added.The issue escalated after Mustafizur Rahman was removed from IPL 2026, following which BCB reiterated it would not tour India under the current situation.While ICC sources say Bangladesh were given a January 21 deadline, BCB has denied this. Media committee chairman Amjad Hossain said, “no specific date” has been set. He explained that discussions are ongoing and the ICC will respond later.For now, ICC remains firm on the schedule. Bangladesh are set to play group matches in Kolkata and Mumbai starting February 7. With the opener just weeks away, Bangladesh’s World Cup participation remains uncertain.Bangladesh squad for T20 World Cup: Litton Das (C), Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Saif Hassan, Tawhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Quazi Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Taskin Ahmed, Shaif Uddin, Shoriful Islam
