Bangladesh will try to take advantage of Australia’s weakened side in the T20 that begins in Dhaka on Tuesday.
Bangladesh is keen to make its first bilateral Twenty20 series against Australia a memorable one.
The series of five matches in seven days begins on Tuesday in Dhaka, and Bangladesh is high on confidence after sweeping Zimbabwe in their test, one-day international and T20 series last month.
“T20 is such a game where you can defeat anyone on a particular day, it hardly matters who is top-ranked or not,” Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah said. “It’s a great opportunity for us as a team and other players to show our standard. I believe that we are a balanced side in our home and will try to prove it.”
The teams haven’t met in T20 since 2016 and are preparing for the Twenty20 World Cup in October.
But most of the first-choice Australia players have skipped the West Indies and Bangladesh tour, and regular captain Aaron Finch has gone home injured, and Bangladesh is also missing key players such as Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Liton Das.
Tamim is injured, Liton is out of the series because of a family emergency, and Mushfiqur has been forced to miss the series due to Australia’s stringent bio-bubble rules.
Cricket Australia demanded there be no access from outside the bio-bubbles, and Mushfiqur had to leave Zimbabwe early – and the bio-secure bubble – to be with his ailing parents.
Bangladesh coach Russell Domingo was disappointed with Australia’s stance.
“I can’t understand the stringent rules Australia placed on Mushfiq out of the bubble,” Domingo said.
“I think ten days (quarantine) would have surely been enough. Very disappointing the way they went about it. No Mushfiqur is surely a loss for us but we have got a big squad and some quality players to replace him.”
Domingo admitted they will try to take the advantage of Australia’s inexperience.
“They are missing a couple of key players, and they’ve obviously got some players here who are trying to get into the World Cup squad, so there will be added pressure on those players to perform,” he said. “We will make sure to take advantage to that.”
Australia has never lost a T20 against Bangladesh in four encounters, all of which were one-off meetings at World Cups.
Australia recently lost a five-match T20 series against West Indies 4-1.
Arnab Bhattacharya
Roar Guru
First time Bangladesh hosting a SENA nation in a white ball series since they hosted England in 2016. Very excited for this series as it gives Bangladesh a chance to get a series win against a top ranked nation. Agar vs Sarkar will be a great battle. Sarkar loves to take on left arm spinners while Agar is a smart T20 bowler. Reports that Kayo will not be broadcasting the series in Australia. So, I’m pretty sure Rabbitholebd YouTube channel will be broadcasting it to Aussie viewers which they have done so for Bangladesh home series for a few years. This series means a lot to me - the country of my birth vs the country of where my parents hail from. I was too young to remember 2005 win let alone the 2008 and 2011 thrashings. 2017 had a great Test series. Hopefully this series can be a great one
Paul
Roar Guru
“T20 is such a game where you can defeat anyone on a particular day, it hardly matters who is top-ranked or not,” Exactly. The shorter the format, the more luck can play a part. Still can't get over Wade being made captain. That's almost like saying he's a lock for the World Cup.