‘They stood with guns outside the room in Pakistan’: Litton Das on Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup withdrawal

India vs Bangladesh (Getty Images) NEW DELHI: Four months after Bangladesh were kicked out of the 2026 FIFA T20 World Cup, the debate over who decided to skip the tournament refuses to die down. While former interim sports advisor Asif Nazrul claimed that the players and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had jointly decided not to participate, captain Litton Das again dismissed this version of events.The controversy began after Bangladesh raised security concerns about playing in India amid regional tensions. The BCB asked the ICC to move its World Cup matches from India, but the governing body found no security threat and refused to move the matches. When neither side budged, Bangladesh were eventually replaced by Scotland. Speaking to Bangladeshi media outlet Prothom, Alo Litton has now revealed that the players were never involved in any real decision-making process. Referring to a meeting with government officials in January, he said the team considered it a formality rather than a consultation.“There was never any question. We just went there to participate and have tea. It was just a media stunt. So we too had the same mindset,” he said.According to Litton, the players were asked for their opinions but made it clear they wanted to play in the World Cup. However, security concerns in India have been used to justify decisions already taken by others.To challenge the security argument, Litton pointed to Bangladesh’s previous trips to Pakistan, where security measures were much tighter.“They just asked us what we want. Now, as a player, what do you want? Of course we didn’t want to fight; we wanted to play cricket. But they questioned the security in India. I said we played cricket in Pakistan where they stood outside the room with guns. What could be more dangerous than this? But this was their call, we as players had no say,” he said.When reminded that Asif had accused the players and BCB of boycotting, Litton replied with a smile: “Does he hold a post now? That’s why he said those things.”