Motivated Bangladesh take on Australia in 1st Test today
Motivated Bangladesh will take on strong Australia in the first Test of Rocket two-match series scheduled to begin on Sunday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium at Mirpur in the city.
The match kicks off at 10 am.
The Tigers have no shortage of self-belief as they beaten England in their most recent home Test and Sri Lanka in their most recent away Test.
The Tigers have spinners who have challenged Australia's defensive techniques and patience, and one of those is also the world's best Test allrounder: Shakib Al Hasan.
They have enough experience and talent in their batting order, through Shakib, Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim may the causes of concern for Australia's bowlers.
Shakib has averages 40 with the bat, 33 with the ball, and is No.1 on the ICC's rankings for Test allrounders, yet because he doesn't play for one of the so-called "big teams" often, Shakib Al Hasan still probably doesn't get the worldwide recognition he deserves according to cricinfo.com.
Entering his 50th Test match - and his first against Australia - he hopes to join Dale Steyn, Rangana Herath and Muttiah Muralitharan as the only bowlers with five-wicket Test hauls against all other countries.
Australia entered the series without a warm-up game in Bangladesh and with a poor recent history in Asia. They have taken some self-belief from their competitive performance in India earlier this year, but questions remain over key batsmen David Warner and Usman Khawaja on slow, turning pitches, as well as the quality of their second spinner, Ashton Agar.
Should Australia lose 2-0, they would fall to sixth on the ICC Test rankings, their lowest ever.
There is no more important player for Australia's chances in this series than the captain Steven Smith. In India earlier this year, Smith showed his patience and skill against high quality spin bowling and scored centuries in three of the four Test matches.
There is no reason to think he will be any less successful in Bangladesh, and big scores from Smith will go a long way to Australia having a strong series. But, of course, he will need somebody to stay out there with him.
Mushfiqur Rahim appears likely to keep wickets, which would mean Liton Das misses out. The selectors will have a tough decision to make between Taskin Ahmed and Shafiul Islam, but Shafiul might just get the nod.
Khawaja looks set to regain his place in the side after Shaun Marsh was preferred in India, and Ashton Agar is expected to join Nathan Lyon as the second spinner.
The only other possible decision for the selectors is whether to include allrounder Hilton Cartwright as an extra seam-bowling option, but that would require leaving Glenn Maxwell out, an unlikely scenario after his batting success in India.
The pitch should be similar that England encountered on this ground last year, but it will be on the slower side with spin expected from day two. Rain is predicted on all five days of the Test, so the chances of a result will depend on how quickly the newly-laid outfield can dry - usually, the drainage is good.
Squad:
Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Imrul Kayes, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Sabbir Rahman, 7 Nasir Hossain, 8 Mehidy Hasan, 9 Taijul Islam, 10 Shafiul Islam, 11 Mustafizur Rahman
Australia (probable): 1 David Warner, 2 Matt Renshaw, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Usman Khawaja, 5 Peter Handscomb, 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Ashton Agar, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Nathan Lyon.
