Litton Das says Bangladesh 'almost ready' for T20 World Cup 2026

CHATTOGRAM: Bangladesh captain Litton Das on Tuesday claimed that the current pool of players is "almost ready" for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, scheduled to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8.

The Tigers, who played the most T20Is (30) by any team this year, enjoyed a remarkable success in the format.

The 2-1 series triumph over Ireland earlier today was Bangladesh's fifth this year and came after consecutive victories over Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Netherlands and Afghanistan.

In the recently concluded home series against Ireland, Bangladesh staged a remarkable comeback after losing the opening fixture as they won the subsequent two games in a commanding fashion.

Reflecting on his team's performance, Das was particularly pleased by their ability to overcome pressure, while terming improvement in the fielding department as one of the many positives.

"I wanted the team to win from pressure situations. We couldn't overcome the pressure in the first game but we fought back to win the series. There are many positive sides. We are not a good fielding unit, but we took some brilliant catches in this series," Das stated at the post-match presentation.

"At least in the fielding department, we have shown improvement. After playing the most number of T20Is in a year, I think our players have become more mature," he added.

The wicketkeeper batter credited the players and support staff for their prowess in the shortest format this year and stressed that he was "not concerned" about his players' individual performances but instead about their well-being, stating that he wanted them to remain safe for the next two months.

"The credit goes to all the players and coaching staff. Our team was ready since the Asia Cup. We have only used a certain number of players since then. I think we want these players to play their best cricket in the BPL, which we then expect them to replicate for the national team," Das continued.

"I am not concerned about anyone's performance, but about injuries. We will all pray that we remain safe in the next two months."

Litton Das then went on to cite several experiments conducted by Bangladesh in the home series against Ireland, which included ace pacer Mustafizur Rahman not bowling the final over in the third T20I, to assert that the Asian side have nearly achieved readiness for the forthcoming mega event.

"We have conducted a lot of experiments. We made certain changes that were risky - like Fizz [Mustafizur Rahman] didn't bowl the last over today," Litton said.

"[Mohammad] Saifuddin bowled the last over. I wanted to see what a player will do after not playing two matches. I think we tried almost everything in every aspect of the team. This bunch of players are almost ready for the next World Cup."