Bangladesh's inside running on Aussies

Ashton Agar has revealed one of Australia's cardinal sins of playing spin on the subcontinent is being beaten on their inside edge, after an innings where four of his teammates surrendered their wicket in exactly that way.

While the turning ball has been all the talk in the lead in to their third Test tour to the subcontinent in just over 12 months, deliveries that skidded straight on proved the major danger for the tourists.

Faced with a skillful assault of spin bowling, Australia were found wanting as the Bangladesh spin trinity of Shakib al Hasan, Mehedi Hasan and Taijul Islam accounted for all but one Australian scalp.

The visitors had expected the Mirpur pitch to take generous turn and although the occasional ball has spat out of the worn track, Australia were largely undone by balls that didn't turn at all.

In frenzied scenes before stumps on day one, both opener David Warner and Nathan Lyon were trapped lbw by spinners (Mehedi and Shakib respectively) who would regularly turn the ball away from them.

The following day, Peter Handscomb (lbw to Taijul) and Matthew Wade (lbw to Mehedi) were also undone by flatter deliveries that didn't spin.

"We actually talk a lot about that," Agar explained after play, with the hosts 1-45 in their second dig and 88 runs ahead.

"We say, 'don't get beaten on the inside edge of the bat'.

"Because when the ball spins, it spins quite a long way and it's not often you're going to get bowled past the outside edge, it's going to spin too far.

"So if you've covered the inside edge, make sure you don't get hit on the pad. That’s when you're pretty safe.

"That being said, it is hard to do. You just have to have good focus when you get out there to make sure that doesn't happen.

"You have to find your way of doing that. Each batter's way is different I guess."

Having troubled Australia's batsman, their left-handers in particular, Mehedi admitted he himself understood the difficulty in judging which balls might spin and which ones might not.

"I don’t think batting is that hard on that wicket but at the end of the day, a bit of turn can make a lot of difference," said the 19-year-old, who picked up 3-62 from 26 overs.

"A lot of things can happen with that much turn.

"It can even go straight."

While Australia fought resolutely for much of the second day, Bangladesh's tweakers created uncertainty with persistent questions of the visiting batsmen.

Of the five batsmen to face more than 20 balls, only Glenn Maxwell managed a strike rate of more than 50 as his teammates sweated on a rare gift from their hosts.

Despite Australia's clear application to the cause, the fact their No.8 Agar faced more balls (97) than any of his teammates would surely be an alarming statistic for the team hierarchy.

And with Bangladesh stretching their lead towards triple figures before stumps, the left-armer is aware of the task ahead of them.

"It's going to get harder and harder to bat on," said Agar, who finished Australia's innings unbeaten on 41.

"The Bangladeshi spinners were very accurate for a long time and they got their rewards.

"Shakib got five wickets … and bowled quite nicely and really accurate as well.

"When you hit a good length it's really tough to score. Sometimes you have to take a risk and that's often when they get the wicket.

"It's going to get a bit tougher."

With Agar admitting the wicket has become a spinner's paradise, he says it's up to him, Lyon and allrounder Glenn Maxwell to keep Bangladesh in check and set up a manageable chase.

"This is what spinners love, when the ball jumps and spins, especially off the good part of the wicket," he said.

"You have to remain patient though. They're good players of spin, they played pretty well tonight.

"Me, Gaz (Lyon) and Maxi (Maxwell) are all going to have to be patient and really accurate tomorrow and hopefully get our rewards."

Australia in Bangladesh 2017

Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade.

Bangladesh squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (c), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Liton Das, Taskin Ahmed, Shafiul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Taijul Islam, Mominul Haque.

27-31 August First Test, Dhaka

4-8 September Second Test, Chittagong