Tigers vs Aussies 1st Test begins today
The first Test match between Bangladesh Cricket team and Australia Cricket team will begin today at the Marrara Cricket Ground in Darwin of Australia.
The game will kick-off at 6:30am (Bangladesh Standard Time). Captain of the Tigers Najmul Hossain Shanto will lead his team, while Captain of Aussies Pat Cummins will lead his side.
The second Test match will be played at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay from August 22 to August 26. The two Test matches are part of International Cricket Council (ICC) World Test Championship.
Before today’s Test match, Bangladesh and Australia faced each other in six Test matches. Of them, Bangladesh registered a victory, while stronger Australia won rest of the five games.
Captain Nazmul Hossain Shanto believes that handling the extra bounce against Australia’s tall pacers will be the biggest challenge in the Darwin Test.
However, the Tigers Captain is unwilling to dwell on the failure of the warm-up match. A day before the match, he said the team have made adequate preparations for the bouncy conditions of the opponent.
Bangladesh are going to play a Test on Australian soil for the first time since 2003. Although the team have improved a lot in the last two decades, there is concern after being all out for just 54 runs in the warm-up match against Cricket Australia XI.
However, Shanto does not want to dwell too much on that performance. According to him, the team have got a good idea of the conditions here after staying in Darwin for quite some time.
Shanto said in the pre-match press conference, “Handling the bounce is the most important thing.
The team have been able to prepare a little more as they have been practicing on bouncy wickets in Bangladesh for the past few months.”
He also said about the bounce, “There will always be bounce in Australia and reaching Darwin 10-12 days before the Test gave us a better idea of that bounce.” Although he admits that Australia’s bowling attack is world-class, Shanto feels that the team have prepared well enough.
“Bangladesh have done badly in the warm-up match before. This was part of the preparation. One bad day is possible. But I think we have prepared well enough.”
Shant also said, “We are confident we will be able to play good cricket. Although there are many challenges ahead as a batting unit, the team are working regularly to overcome them.”
He feels that the challenge will be more difficult, especially against the new ball. In his words, “Every batter will have to play his natural game and try to score runs.”
Bangladesh Test squad: Najmul Hossain Shanto (Captain), Soumya Sarkar,
Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Amite Hasan,
Jaker Ali Anik, Mehidy Hasan Miraz (Vice- Captain), Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Musfik Hasan and Litton Das.
Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (Captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald and Beau Webster.
