And while many a touring party have been overawed by Australia away from home in the past, Shanto is confident his team will be no pushover across the two-game series and can earn respect from the 2023 World Test Championship winners.
“I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to play Test cricket in Australia against them,” Shanto said.
“We should have played more matches there over the last 23 years. If we had played better cricket, perhaps we would have had more opportunities.
“Our main goal is to play good cricket there and earn respect. If we can play competitive cricket, they’ll definitely invite us again in the future. We play every match to win, but what’s important is how much of a tough time we can give them.
“We’ll try to play the kind of Test cricket we’ve been playing over the last few years. The conditions will be different, so we have to adapt as quickly as possible. There’s no separate plan. The Test team is in a good place. From here, we don’t want to go backwards; instead, the goal is to keep improving.”
Bangladesh squad: Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Soumya Sarkar, Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Amite Hasan, Jaker Ali Anik, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain Chowdhury, Musfik Hasan
Schedule:
First Test: August 13-17, Darwin
Second Test: August 22-26, Mackay
