Confident Bangladesh Pose Australia a Fresh Challenge After 15-Year Wait for an ODI Series

The voyage of discovery for Australia’s depleted one-day squad now moves to Dhaka against a Bangladesh side who are confident on their own turf. The visitors had hoped for reinforcements by now, but that hasn’t proved the case with captain Mitchell Marsh still sidelined and Travis Head granted leave from the whole tour.

Big Picture: Keep an Eye on the Quicks

It is the first bilateral ODI series between these teams for 15 years. One of the intriguing aspects of this leg of the tour is what conditions will confront Australia in only their second ODI series in the country. In times gone by, it would have been billed as another trial by spin, but it may not play out that way this time. Pace bowling is now having a big say in Bangladesh.

Across the six ODIs played this year – five of which have been in Mirpur, the venue for this series – pace bowlers have taken 69 wickets at 22.60, while spin has accounted for 26 at 35.50. Having largely relied on Nathan Ellis for the last two matches in Pakistan – and even he was effectively bowling fast cutters most of the time – along with a handful of overs from Cameron Green, the likes of Xavier Bartlett and Ben Dwarshuis could well have a role to play.

Form Guide

Bangladesh WWLWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia LWLLW

In the Spotlight: Nahid Rana and Marnus Labuschagne

Australia will get their first look at Nahid Rana, who is emerging as one of the most exciting pace-bowling prospects in the world. In the recent six ODIs against Pakistan and New Zealand, he took 16 wickets at 17.43. He impressed, too, in the Tests against Pakistan, which is something to keep in the back pocket with Bangladesh touring Australia for two matches in August.

It might prove fortunate for Marnus Labuschagne that Marsh and Head have not made this series, as it leaves him as one of the more experienced members of the squad. However, whether that saves his place in the XI remains to be seen. He had a poor series in Pakistan with scores of 0, 5, and 19 – although his last dismissal was a run-out in a mix-up with Josh Inglis – but his ODI woes extend much further: in his last 13 innings, he has a top score of 47 and averages 12.46.

Team News: Mosaddek Could End Long Wait; Balance of Attack Question for Australia

Mosaddek Hossain will most likely return to the Bangladesh ODI side for the first time since August 2022, while the pace attack will include the first-choice trio.

Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tanzid Hasan, 2 Saif Hassan, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Tawhid Hridoy, 5 Litton Das, 6 Mosaddek Hossain, 7 Mehidy Hasan Miraz (capt), 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Nahid Rana

Australia will likely need an extra pace bowler compared to how they finished the Pakistan series. Both Bartlett and Dwarshuis offer something with the bat, too, which is helpful for the balance of the lower order. Cooper Connolly remains available as a batter only, at least for the ODI series, and both he and the uncapped all-rounder Liam Scott could put pressure on Labuschagne if the batting order was shuffled.

Australia (probable): 1 Matt Short, Josh Inglis (capt & wk), 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Alex Carey, 5 Cameron Green, 6 Matt Renshaw, 7 Ollie Peake, 8 Xavier Bartlett, 9 Matt Kuhnemann, 10 Nathan Ellis, 11 Adam Zampa

Pitch and Conditions: Weather Could Play a Part

The pitch in Mirpur has been on the more pacy side in the last two ODI series. There will be more likelihood of the side wanting to bat first when winning the toss, although the weather forecast is for rain and thunderstorms throughout the day, which could bring chasing under DLS into the equation.

Stats and Trivia

• Adam Zampa needs three wickets to become the seventh Australia bowler with 200 in ODIs.
• Najmul Hossain Shanto needs 86 runs to reach 2000 in ODIs.
• The last time the teams played an ODI was in the 2023 World Cup, where Marsh hit an unbeaten 177 off 132 balls to chase down 307.
• Bangladesh have only beaten Australia once in ODIs – the famous day in Cardiff in 2005.