Minnows no more, Bangladesh show genuine menace

"It's a positive way of playing the game and we like to win in quick time … That's the way cricket should be played and if all the countries can take a leaf out of that book then it's good for world cricket."

It's the kind of Bazball-adjacent quote you've surely seen trotted by the many who rejoiced in its recent downfall. Only, those words were never uttered by Ben Stokes or Brendon McCullum. Rather, they came from the mouth of one of Australia's most revered leaders the last time Australia played Bangladesh in Darwin.

After overseeing an innings-and-32-run trouncing inside three days in Bangladesh's Test debut down under, Steve Waugh had opined about the style of play his champion team hoped to inspire the world with.

Twenty-two years on, it is certain there will be no equivalent level of hubris from Pat Cummins regardless of whether he can marshal his troops to a comeback win over the coming days.

Indeed there has been, according to one of Waugh's teammates Ricky Ponting, "no bigger moment in some of their careers than what's coming up in the next few days".

It speaks to the scale of what Bangladesh have already achieved, and, if nothing else, that their first two days of Test cricket in Australia since that 2003 touch-up underscores just how they have emphatically shed the 'minnows' tag. 

Tanzid Hasan, whose grin lit up Marrara Stadium after becoming his country's first century maker in any format in Australia, was one of the history-making crop of young Bangladeshis who beat India in the 2020 U19 World Cup final. 

The second-gamer joins an illustrious list of young foreign openers to make their mark in conditions notoriously difficult for that breed.

Among them are Alastair Cook (who was 21 when he stroked his first hundred in Australia during the 2006-07 Ashes Test in Perth), Michael Atherton (22 when he tonned up in 1990-91 Sydney Test), Yashasvi Jaiswal (22 for 2024-25 Perth ton) and Virender Sehwag (25 for his 2003-04 assault at the MCG).

Tanzid was also part of the Bangladesh outfit that, in June, pulled off a fifth consecutive ODI series victory and a first against Australia in the 50-over format. That was five years after beating the soon-to-be T20 World Cup champions in 2021 and longer since their maiden Test win over the Aussies in 2017.

Both those latter campaigns came on poppy, turning, low-bouncing home pitches that suited their crafty and diminutive spin bowlers to a tee.

Their more recent success has come after a marked shift.

Under Najmul Hossain Shanto and the more recently-appointed coach Phil Simmons, there has been a commitment to playing on seam-friendly home surfaces, a bold call that flies in the face of how traditionally stronger Asian teams like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have confounded visitors.

Even despite their blossoming group of seamers, it has been an exceptionally bold move for a country whose only four bowlers to top 100 Test wickets have all been finger spinners.

Two of the greatest beneficiaries of that shift have been Shoriful Islam (another of that U19 class of 2020) and Nahid Rana, who both played key roles in that 2-1 ODI series win over Australia.

But with highly-rated pair out injured for this Darwin Test, Bangladesh have shown a pace depth beyond them. Hasan Mahmud, the second youngest player in this ongoing match along with Tanzid, showed the benefits of a recent county stint with Kent when he snared 6-55 to stun Australia on Thursday.

The leadership of Shanto has also been pivotal, progressing from taking the captaincy in a stand-in capacity three years ago to now overseeing unprecedented success. Under him, his side have beaten Pakistan in Test series at home and away to give Shanto more wins (8) than any of his predecessors.

Not even their exclusion from the T20 World Cup earlier this year for political reasons has dimmed their gradual rise.

A triumph over Australia in the coming days would not only top any of Shanto's previous victories, but surely rank as the greatest moment in Bangladesh's cricket history.

"With the quality we've got in our dressing room, I'm sure everybody's still looking at a way to win this game of cricket," Australia allrounder Beau Webster told reporters on Friday.

It's language Waugh could easily have used himself – though not the kind he would have foreseen coming from an Australian cricketer two days into a Test against Bangladesh.

NRMA Insurance Bangladesh Test series

First Test: August 13-17, Marrara Stadium, Darwin, 10am (local)

Second Test: August 22-26, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, 10am (local)

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

Bangladesh squad (first Test): Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mehidy Hasan Miraz (vc), Soumya Sarkar, Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das, Amite Hasan, Jaker Ali, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain Chowdhury, Musfik Hasan