‘The players have moved on’ – Litton Das on Bangladesh’s infamous T20 World Cup withdrawal

Bangladesh T20I captain Litton Das spoke of how his team have moved on from missing out on the 2026 World Cup ahead of the start of their three-match T20I series against New Zealand, which gets underway on Monday, April 27, with the first game set to be played in Chattogram.

Experienced cricketer Mustafizur Rahman was withdrawn from the ongoing IPL due to sociopolitical concerns, which prompted the Bangladesh Cricket Board to pull out of the 2026 T20 World Cup completely after initially refusing to play their matches in India.

Litton, who is hoping for a fresh start, stated that the future games will give them a perspective on how the team should be set up after missing out on the marquee global tournament.

“We are playing the T20 format after a while. Initially we are not willing to give the players added pressure. If they play one or two matches they will understand from their place, there is also the matter of team setup. There will be nine T20s for us, all three series against good teams, back to back. So this is a positive thing for us. Once we play one series, the next one will be easier for us,” he said, speaking in an interview with Cricbuzz.

Litton also mentioned that the Bangladesh players have moved on from missing out on the tournament and will have to approach international cricket with newfound desire.

“The players have moved on because during the time of the World Cup, we played a tournament where the players tried to play good cricket. The main thing is, in international cricket, each and every single game is important for the players. The players will think accordingly and do what is required to represent Bangladesh with a winning mindset,” he added.

“Main goal” for Litton is 2028 T20 WC

Litton, whose tenure as skipper has been extended till the 2028 T20 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, is aware of how preparation should be focused on playing in those conditions.

The main goal that we have, the 2028 T20 World Cup, we know that it will not be held in Asia, we will think along those lines. And definitely, the bonding that we had prior to the last World Cup, the preparation, was good. We will try to maintain that and continue it,” he added.

Appointed in May 2025 as the captain of the T20 side, Litton has overseen five consecutive series victories over Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the Netherlands, Afghanistan and Ireland, respectively. The series against the Black Caps is set to get underway with the Bangla Tigers having clinched the One-Day Internationals by a convincing 2-1 margin.