Aussies put on notice
Bolder Bangladesh described as unbeatable at home
AN emboldened Bangladesh believe they can underscore their Test cricketing credentials by consigning Australia to another subcontinent defeat.
After gaining a reputation as a basket case in their formative years, the Tigers have improved significantly, highlighted by maiden Test wins over England and Sri Lanka last year.
Their famous victory over England in Dhaka, which levelled the two-match series at 1-1, showed the danger they will pose on their home soil to a potentially underdone Australian side.
Chasing 273 for victory, England reached 0-100 before teenage offspin prodigy Mehedi Hasan ripped through their attack to precipitate the loss of 10 wickets in a single session.
The Tigers went on to claim another series-levelling win during their tour of Sri Lanka – something Australia were unable to achieve during their 3-0 series defeat last year.
Australia were much better during their 2-1 series defeat in India earlier this year, but many of their batsmen have struggled or lack experience on turning pitches.
Steve Smith’s men have not won a Test series on the subcontinent since beating Sri Lanka 1-0 in 2011.
The victory over England has also left Bangladesh confident they can handle visiting spinners, with top-order batsman Imrul Kayes declaring the Tigers were more than capable of taking on Nathan Lyon.
“Lyon is one of the best spinners in the world but we are ready to face him,” Kayes said. “We know that wickets in the subcontinent support spinners but against England we handled their offspinners so I think we can do a similar job against Australia.”
Shakib Al Hasan, the world’s No.1-ranked all-rounder across all formats, went a step further, describing Bangladesh as “unbeatable” at home.
“It’s been a long journey,” Shakib told The Guardian.
“It’s been incredible. I don’t think many people thought, even in Bangladesh, that we can come this far.
“We knew that we have this ability, and we needed that belief, and we can only get this belief by winning matches.
“But there is no shortage of self-belief at this moment ...
“Now we feel that we are very much unbeatable at home.”
Australia will go into Sunday’s first Test in Dhaka with minimal preparation after a waterlogged ground forced the cancellation of their tour match. Both sides are hoping the Bangladeshi monsoon season won’t disrupt play.