Australia captain Steve Smith said on Saturday that his team’s experience in India earlier this year will help overcome Bangladesh’s challenge in the forthcoming two-Test series
“I think Bangladesh have played some very good cricket and they won a Test match here not very long ago. So we are seeing it as a big challenge,” Smith said in his first press conference in Dhaka since arriving here late on Friday amid tight security.
“Hopefully we can learn a lot from what we did in India and bring them into the game here and show some improvements,” he said.
Australia visited India from February to March for four Test matches and despite a 2-1 loss in the series Smith’s men were praised for putting up a good performance.
Smith led his side from the front, scoring three centuries to become the highest run-getter in the series with 499 runs at an average of 71.28.
Smith is now leading Australia for its first bilateral Test series in Bangladesh in 11 years.
Australia’s last visit to Dhaka was with Ricky Ponting’s team in 2006, six years after the host was granted Test status.
Smith said conditions would be the biggest challenge for the Aussies in the two Test matches.
The visitors are scheduled to play a warm-up match on August 22-23 before they take on Bangladesh in the first Test at Sher-e Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Aug. 27. The second Test will be played at in Chittagong from Sept. 4.