Shanto urges Tigers to keep the grind going

Bangladesh came out on top in every session of their remarkable nine-wicket victory over Australia in Darwin. Now, with the Tigers standing on the precipice of history, captain Najmul Hossain Shanto wants his team to replicate the patience and discipline that carried them to that landmark win.

The Tigers know a sterner test awaits in Mackay, where conditions are expected to offer more assistance to Australia. With the prospect of a historic series victory looming, Shanto is wary of allowing the magnitude of the occasion to cloud his team's thinking.

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If Bangladesh did not experience the full force of Australian conditions in Darwin, Mackay could provide a setting more to the hosts' liking. The Tigers will therefore have to adapt once again rather than rely on what worked in the opening Test.

Bangladesh have won seven Test series after taking a 1-0 lead, but there have also been three occasions when they failed to convert an opening-Test victory into a series win. The first came against Australia in 2017, when they followed a 20-run victory in Mirpur with a seven-wicket defeat in Chattogram. They also failed to replicate their approach in Christchurch in 2022 after their famous victory over New Zealand in Mount Maunganui. A year later, Bangladesh lost to the Kiwis by four wickets in Mirpur after winning the first Test by 150 runs.

Shanto stressed the need to manage the emotions of victory and repeatedly execute the basics against Australia.

“After that first Test [in Darwin], there is a lot of emotion going on. As a professional cricketer, we have to come again and again when we are going to face new conditions and new challenges,” Shanto said at the pre-match press conference on Friday.

“That [win in Darwin] is in the past now.”

Bangladesh have used the past two days to reset, with the experienced players also helping the younger members of the squad deal with the emotional high of Darwin.

“The players are very professional, and some of the experienced guys talk to the young players [on managing emotion].... The boys are ready to go again to do well for the team,” Shanto said.

The captain knows there is no single formula for playing Test cricket, and Bangladesh will have to adapt to the conditions and Australia's plans rather than simply reproduce their Darwin performance.

“We have different plans. We are not going to play every single Test match in the same way. We try to adjust to the conditions. We try to focus on how they are going to attack us and prepare for that,” he said.

“The important thing is how well we are playing each day, each session. So that will be the target. I think if we follow the process properly, we can play good cricket session by session. The result will come automatically,” Shanto concluded.