We are very much unbeatable at home, says Shakib Al Hasan
What’s the story?
Ahead of the Bangladesh-Australia Test series, all-rounder Shakib al Hasan has issued a warning to the touring side when he said that he is confident in his team and that Bangladesh are unbeatable at home.
"It's been a long journey. It's been incredible. I don't think many people thought – even in Bangladesh – that we can come this far. We knew that we have this ability, and we needed that belief, and we can only get this belief by winning matches. But there is no shortage of self-belief at this moment … Now we feel that we are very much unbeatable at home – doesn't matter who we are playing against," was as quoted by the Guardian.
The details
Shakib also spoke about the long and arduous journey for Bangladesh cricket and thanked all the coaches who helped the team grow and expressed his satisfaction at the state of the current team.
Apart from this, he also said that since none of the players in the current squad had ever played a Test match, the upcoming series promises to be very exciting.
He credits the change in approach to the shift in mindset before the England series when there was a concerted effort to win matches which was not the case earlier when they were happy with merely drawing matches with bigger teams.
In case you didn’t know...
Australia will take on Bangladesh in a 2-match Test series and after the home side's stellar performance in their own backyard in the previous season, this series promises to be a keenly contested one.
Bangladesh reached the Champions Trophy semi-finals, and also beat England at home in a Test and Sri Lanka away. Australia, on the other hand, lost to Sri Lanka 3-0 and went down 2-1 to India.
What's next?
The confidence is quite visible in the Bangladesh camp and this by no means looks misplaced as the team is a strong force at home.
The first Test match commences on August 27 Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur. Australia will go into the Test match without any practice match as they called off their warm-up match owing to the waterlogged playing surface.
Author's Take
Shakib is ranked the number 1 all-rounder in Test cricket and his performance with both bat and ball will in many ways define the course of the series.
Also, this is Bangladesh's best chance of creating history as the team looks well balanced and it cannot be taken lightly in their own home conditions.