Australia aim to salvage pride against Bangladesh
The visitors were slammed by Australian media when they lost the opening match in Dhaka by twenty runs and coach Darren Lehmann admitted the players had been stung by the level of condemnation of the team’s spectacle.
“The boys are all hurting with the criticism you get,” Lehmann told reporters.
“(But) you deserve that when you don’t win. It is not good enough when you lose a Test match to anyone, but Bangladesh are raunchy at home.”
Chittagong does at least hold some fond memories for the Australians as they attempt to salvage a drawn series.
The only previous time they played a Test there, in 2006, the visitors won by an innings and eighty runs with nightwatchman Jason Gillespie scoring an unbeaten dual century.
But Bangladesh are a more formidable opponent now and the fattest challenge facing Australia’s players is to find a way to combat the home team’s spinners.
All but one of Australia’s twenty wickets in the series opener fell to spin, and the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium pitch in Chittagong is expected to favor slow bowling.
Australia have recalled left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe for the injured Josh Hazlewood and could play him alongside their frontline spinners Nathan Lyon and Ashton Agar.
O’Keefe was incredible during this year’s Test series in India, capturing nineteen wickets, including a match-winning 12-wicket haul in the very first Test victory.
Australia eventually lost the series 2-1 but Lehmann hinted that O’Keefe could be rushed back into the playing side.
“The way the wicket was you are not going to have too many overs bowled by the quicks as the game goes on and we expect the same sort of pitch,” he said.
Bangladesh left-arm spinner Taijul Islam, who took the match-clinching final wicket in Dhaka, said the home side was also hoping for a turning pitch in Chittagong as they attempt to sweep the series.
“I hope it (wicket) will remain the same because we are expecting another win,” he said.
“We have the capacity to win the series 2-0. We almost did against England last year.
“So I don’t think it is unlikely to strike Australia again,” he said.
Bangladesh came agonizingly close to hammering England in Chittagong last year when they needed thirty three runs on the fifth day with two wickets in arm.
Ben Stokes took the last two wickets to win the match for England but Bangladesh won the 2nd match to tie the series.
The only two times Bangladesh have swept a series were against an under-strength West Indies side in two thousand nine and against a fighting Zimbabwe in 2014.
Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Shakib Al Hasan, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Mominul Haque, Liton Das, Taskin Ahmed
Australia: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Steve O’Keefe, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson and Jackson Bird.
The visitors were slammed by Australian media when they lost the opening match in Dhaka by twenty runs and coach Darren Lehmann admitted the players had been stung by the level of condemnation of the team’s spectacle.
“The boys are all hurting with the criticism you get,” Lehmann told reporters.
“(But) you deserve that when you don’t win. It is not good enough when you lose a Test match to anyone, but Bangladesh are rough at home.”
Chittagong does at least hold some fond memories for the Australians as they attempt to salvage a drawn series.
The only previous time they played a Test there, in 2006, the visitors won by an innings and eighty runs with nightwatchman Jason Gillespie scoring an unbeaten dual century.
But Bangladesh are a more formidable opponent now and the fattest challenge facing Australia’s players is to find a way to combat the home team’s spinners.
All but one of Australia’s twenty wickets in the series opener fell to spin, and the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium pitch in Chittagong is expected to favor slow bowling.
Australia have recalled left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe for the injured Josh Hazlewood and could play him alongside their frontline spinners Nathan Lyon and Ashton Agar.
O’Keefe was exceptional during this year’s Test series in India, capturing nineteen wickets, including a match-winning 12-wicket haul in the very first Test victory.
Australia eventually lost the series 2-1 but Lehmann hinted that O’Keefe could be rushed back into the playing side.
“The way the wicket was you are not going to have too many overs bowled by the quicks as the game goes on and we expect the same sort of pitch,” he said.
Bangladesh left-arm spinner Taijul Islam, who took the match-clinching final wicket in Dhaka, said the home side was also hoping for a turning pitch in Chittagong as they attempt to sweep the series.
“I hope it (wicket) will remain the same because we are expecting another win,” he said.
“We have the capacity to win the series 2-0. We almost did against England last year.
“So I don’t think it is unlikely to strike Australia again,” he said.
Bangladesh came agonizingly close to hammering England in Chittagong last year when they needed thirty three runs on the fifth day with two wickets in forearm.
Ben Stokes took the last two wickets to win the match for England but Bangladesh won the 2nd match to tie the series.
The only two times Bangladesh have swept a series were against an under-strength West Indies side in two thousand nine and against a fighting Zimbabwe in 2014.
Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Shakib Al Hasan, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Mominul Haque, Liton Das, Taskin Ahmed
Australia: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Steve O’Keefe, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson and Jackson Bird.