Australia face depleted bangladesh in clash for survival to make it to semis. Following the match at Dharamsala, Australia hope to thaw their World T20 campaign in the warmer surrounds of Bangalore.
Faced with an opponent in Bangladesh who have never beaten them in the format, and aided by the harsh lessons of their opening game against a crafty and resourceful New Zealand, Steven Smith's team will be confident of doing so. Nevertheless, the World T20 is a fleeting experience - the coach Darren Lehmann has said "it's so quick you haven't got too much time to think about it" - and one false move will mean virtual elimination inside two games.
Continuity has long been a problem for Australia in T20, and the New Zealand defeat raised the prospect of still more shuffling. Smith's men have been almost universally blind-sided by the tournament's preponderance of slow and turning surfaces well removed from the kinds of inviting surfaces thy have grown used to in the IPL, and must quickly find a way to prosper against the spinning ball given Bangladesh will not be short of slow men. Team balance is also an issue, with Aaron Finch on the fringes of the team and a second spinner in Ashton Agar who was seemingly picked without much expectation from the selectors that he would be needed. A little stability would not go astray, given how the Australians must now try to build momentum over the next two games before they meet India in the final qualifying match.
Bangladesh have meanwhile been waylaid by the banning of Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny for illegal bowling actions. Aside from the trauma of being ejected from the competition, they have presented the coach Chandika Hathurusingha with his own selection conundrum about who comes in. The batting allrounder Shuvagata Hom and left-arm spinner Saqlain Sajib are their likely replacements, the latter chosen for the first time. The fact both men bowl spin will be a reminder of what this tournament is calling for: by the end of Monday night Australia and Bangladesh will know whether they stand a chance of finding the right combination for it.
At the pre match press conference Steven Smith said : It's a tough group, there are some very good sides in our group. Obviously we didn't start as well as we would have liked the other night against New Zealand. It's in the past now. We know what we need to do now - we need to win every game we play if we want to win the World Cup. while said Mashrafe Mortaza: He (Chandrika Hathurasinghe) knows a lot about the Australian players during his time with New South Wales. Obviously, we will be seeking a lot of tips from him. The plans are there but the main thing is to execute them. We know that Australia can destroy any team.
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