Joty seeks team effort to shock mighty Australia

There are a gulf of differences in terms of rankings, form and history between Bangladesh and Australia, but Nigar Sultana Joty remains confident that the Tigresses can spring a surprise in the historic three-match ODI series against the mighty Australians, beginning at Allan Border Field in Brisbane on Friday.

The match is scheduled to start at 9:50am Bangladesh time.

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“When we play as a team and perform as a whole unit, we can surprise any team,” said a confident Joty ahead of the series on Thursday, which will mark Bangladesh's return to the one-day format after nearly five months.

The series is historic for Bangladesh as it marks their first bilateral tour of Australia. However, the Tigresses face a formidable challenge against the seven-time world champions, who are ranked No. 1 in the world, while Bangladesh are seventh. Australia also hold a 5-0 head-to-head advantage over Bangladesh in ODIs.

Bangladesh head into the series after suffering a 72-run defeat to Queensland in their lone warm-up match. Despite the gulf between the two sides, skipper Joty is confident that her team can cause an upset if they perform as a unit.

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“So I think it's pretty important to be in the present. And we were really hoping that we can play as a whole unit, because what we believe is that we're kind of a team where, when we play as a team and perform as a whole unit, we can surprise any team,” Joty said on the eve of the match.

Bangladesh have endured a difficult period both on and off the field in recent months. They had disappointing campaigns in the Asia Cup T20 and Asian Games, while Joty stepped down as T20 captain and David Hemp replaced Sarwar Imran as head coach.

The batting department remains a major concern for the Tigresses, while the bowling attack has also been tested. Apart from Marufa Akter, Bangladesh have no experienced pacers in Australia, with uncapped pacers Habiba Islam Pinky and Disha Biswas included in the squad for the tour.

Habiba, however, provided some encouragement in the warm-up game by claiming four wickets, and Joty hopes the practice match experience will give the team confidence.

“Yeah, definitely we're excited and pretty happy to be here. And, you know, it's always been challenging in here when you are playing in a different condition, definitely. Team looks good—we have played a practice game here, so we have got some ideas what we are going to face. So, yeah, it's just a team game; we just wanted to explore ourselves.”

New head coach Hemp was also pleased with his side's preparations and urged the players to remain positive against the world's top-ranked team.

“So preparation has been really good, been fortunate. We had a practice game, but also the wickets that we've been practicing on have been excellent. So it's been a bit of a challenge for the players from that point of view because the wickets have a little bit more pace and bounce than what they're used to. But they've adjusted really well, and really tried to adjust and adapt to those conditions,” Hemp said.

Hemp acknowledged the magnitude of the challenge but said he wants his players to approach the series positively.

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“We can't hide away from the fact that we're playing against the best women's team in the world. They're number one in ODIs and also in T20. So the biggest challenge will be getting our heads around that. They're a good team with really good individual players.

“Expectations from me around how we play is just more around being positive within the game. And what we don't want is to get back to Bangladesh in a week's time and say, ‘I wish we'd played this way, I wish we played that way’. We need to be positive in how we go about everything that we do and how we not just play the game, but also approach the game and how we think about the game. As long as we're doing that, then we'll move forward in a positive way,” he added.

Australia, who are also returning to the ODI format after five months, will be without regular captain Sophie Molineux, who will miss all three matches as she continues her recovery from a hip injury.

All-rounder Tahlia McGrath will lead Australia in the series, and she expects Bangladesh's bowling attack to provide a stern challenge.

“They've got a really talented line-up and an attack that's different to a lot of other international attacks,” McGrath said.

“Marufa is all class at the top, her ability to swing the ball and then their spinners are really tricky. Bowl a little bit slower to what we're used to and get a fair bit of turn.

“We've been prepping for that and we expect a really good contest and hopefully we can combat that and produce some really big scores as a batting unit,” she added.