Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto believes his side have changed enough since their last Test tour of Australia to make their long-awaited return count.
Bangladesh begin their two-Test series against Australia in Darwin on Thursday, returning to the country for the first time since 2003.
The teams have met in only three Test series. Bangladesh’s famous 20-run victory in Mirpur in 2017 remains their only win over Australia.
Shanto believes the current Bangladesh side should not carry the weight of that history.
“I was talking to the selector, and he was saying that this team is no longer the same as the team 23 years ago,” Shanto said at Wednesday’s pre-match press conference. “He has that belief in this team.”
Bangladesh arrive after a heavy warm-up defeat against a Cricket Australia XI. They were dismissed for only 54 in their second innings and lost by an innings and 38 runs.
Shanto, however, does not believe that collapse should shape expectations for the Test.
“Such a bad day can happen. I believe that such a day will not come in this Test match,” he said.
The captain sees the start of the Test as a clear break from the preparation phase.
“That was a preparation phase. From tomorrow, I think a battle begins, and what matters is how well we accept that challenge. Everyone is ready for it,” Shanto said.
Australia will provide a far tougher examination. Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood lead an attack that can expose any weakness in Bangladesh’s batting, particularly in unfamiliar Australian conditions.
Shanto still sees the tour as an opportunity rather than a burden.
“We are very lucky to come again after 23 years,” he said. “I hope we will play some good cricket; we want to compete.”
Bangladesh have little recent Test experience in Australia, but Shanto wants his players to focus on each session rather than speculate about the result.
“As players, we always want to play cricket for five days,” he said. “We want to play good cricket for five days and take it session by session.”
Whether Bangladesh can last five days will depend heavily on how they handle Australia’s pace attack. Their warm-up collapse offered a warning, but Shanto insists his players have already drawn a line under it.
