Bangladesh's chance to break new ground and leave the Australian batting with permanent scars
ICC World Test Championship
Bangladesh’s victory at Darwin flipped the whole script on a historic tour against one of the toughest opponents in cricket when they defeated Australia comfortably by nine wickets, dominating the whole game from ball one even after losing the toss. However, the signs of improvement Bangladesh cricket has shown in recent times doesn't make this outcome a total surprise. Their investment in the fast-bowling development coupled with preparing healthy playing surfaces has enabled the Asian country to build a worthy pace-bowling unit. A lot of work has gone behind-the-scenes, not only in the bowling department, but also the progress shown by their batters which finally resulted in this historic moment. They will now be hoping to do the unthinkable i.e., winning the final clash of this series and white-washing Australia at home, a feat that no one has achieved since 1887.
For the hosts, this should serve as a wake-up call and a reminder to the batting unit that they cannot just sit on their heels anymore. Their bowling dominance somewhat managed to shield the ineptness of their batters but after such an unprecedented result against the No.9 ranked team in ICC rankings, heads need to roll and players need to take their place in the national side rather seriously. The bowlers also need to be on the mark at Mackay from the outset fllowing a sluggish performance in the last game, given that many of them were returning from long-term injuries. Jake Weatherald, who made his debut in the series became the first victim of this dreaded loss with the selectors deciding to name 30-year old Matt Renshaw in his place who played his previous Test, three years ago versus India. The management have decided to stick with the same bowling quartet, even though captain Pat Cummins did mention that the inclusion of Nathan Lyon wasn’t a certainty, meaning Scott Boland will have to wait for his opportunity until their tour to South Africa in October.
Final chance for Labuschagne, Green extends his stay
Marnus Labuschagne has certainly overstayed him welcome in Test cricket. 42 innings without a three-figure score and an average of 25.23 are not the numbers a genuine champion team would appreciate from their regular No.3. All this is known to Labuschagne as well but his incapability to get out of this rut and play a match-winning innings has only piled more pressure on both national selectors and the management backing him. The home team's batting has faltered collectively for years now and Marnus has played a huge part in it. His dismissals in both innings of the first Test made it uglier for everyone involved in the process. It's now or never for the 32-year old due to the criticism coming from all corners which is getting louder with each passing failure.
Weatherald was made the scapegoat of their failure at Darwin following one fifty-plus score in 12 innings. It's not like Australia haven't tried other players during this tenure. Sam Konstas and Nathan McSweeney were tried as openers post the retirement of David Warner combining together for 235 runs in 8 matches and exposing themselves to various technical deficiencies making the jump to International cricket a little too steep. The infamous Steve Smith as an opener experiment lasted only four games and he returned back to his preferred No.4 spot thankfully. The latest of those left-field strategies has seen Travis Head move to the top, making room for both Cam Green and Beau Webster in the middle order. With Weatherland dropped, it's time for Renshaw to make a case as a regular opener after a couple of flop attempts in the past.
Renshaw has not broken the door ideally with his numbers in First-Class cricket but, honestly no one else has done so in the same span. Campbell Kellaway is the only other strong candidate with some runs under his belt for the A team. Renshaw had a decent Sheffield Shield 2025, making 499 runs in 6 matches where Kellaway struggled with an average of 26.78. Weatherald had scored 562 runs @ 40.14 in the same season post topping the run-scoring charts in 2024 when Renshaw could not touch the batting average of 30. There are flaws in his red-ball game and this looks more of a stop-gap solution to shut the noise as in my humble opinion he is going to be an easy target for some World-Class bowlers, the hosts are going to face in the next few months.
One such name who moved away from this clutter is Cameron Green. Green, a superstar at Shield level has found International cricket extremely difficult since his debut. He was averaging over 50 in First-Class cricket before a national call-up however, in 38 Tests that number has only reached 33.69 with three centuries. He has collected only 39 wickets with an average close to 40, not making it ideal numbers for someone who was expected to take Test cricket by storm. A century in the last innings, his first at home in 33 attempts leaves Green in a better position than Labuschagne for now. It remains to be seen how long he can enjoy the confidence, a third career hundred has earned for Green. Australia has not made any new changes in the middle order and it's high time they try some fresh players or things might not look too rosy in the future editions of the WTC especially with the rise of various teams like South Africa, New Zealand and Bangladesh.
Shoriful fit to add variety with his left-arm angle
The news of injuries to premier fast bowlers, Nahid Rana & Shoriful Islam had left the Asian side vulnerable even before entering the Australian shores. However, they were rewarded with good news when Shoriful was passed fit for the second match of this series. The trio of Taskin, Mahmud And Ebadot did a marvelous job with the ball, setting up the platform for historic win versus the giants of this format in their own home. Bangladesh also have the options in the form of Khaled Ahmed and the uncapped Musfik Hasan to choose from which has been bolstered further by the return of Shoriful.
The left-arm pacer has been part of all-formats for the national team since debut in 202, although he is seen as more of a backup across formats. Shoriful has played only 13 Test matches averaging 36.03 with 27 wickets, still his economy has always been bang-on as he is more suited to take a defensive role at times. The most concerning thing with the red-ball has been his Strike Rate which lies close to 70. Shoriful has been in-and-out of the side in the past six matches, often playing just once in a series whenever the management decides to rotate their bowlers. His high workload as well as a few injuries recently have also limited Shoriful's participation.
Shoriful Islam was passed fit for the final Test after suffering a hamstring injury on the tour to Zimbabwe last month
The visitors have built a solid pace-bowling core to deal with untimely injuries and the consequence of the same was seen when their bowling unit out-performed the experienced core of Australia in the previous game. The selectors now face a dilemma of either going with the same composition or include the left-arm angle provided by Shoriful. The 25-year old is known to attack the stumps consistently and swing the ball late, causing trouble with the last-minute movement. We do not have much information about the Mackay surface since the venue will become the 127th ground to be used for Test cricket. The expectation is there will help for the fast bowlers, primarily at the start with sunny conditions except for slight chances of rain on Monday. The visitors will wait till last-minute to make a call on Shoriful's inclusion in place of Ebadot Hossain, who can be a bit inconsistent or replacing him with Taijul Islam thus fielding a four-men pace attack.
Ageing Australia needs to develop a full-proof future plan
The average age of Australia's 13-men squad selected for the opening encounter was almost 34 as compared to nearly 30 for Bangladesh. Shanto's side had 7 out of the 16 men under the age of 30 while the 27-year old Cameron Green was the only player falling in this category for the hosts. The only change for this game came in the form of 30-year old Matt Renshaw replacing 31-year old Jake Weatherald keeping the dynamic equal yet again. Five players are aged over 35 which includes bowlers Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Scott Boland. The 37-year old Steve Smith is the fifth name, all of them forming the core of this dominant red-ball force for the 2023 WTC champions and the current table toppers.
Australia has traditionally been known to pick players in their prime once they become a proven domestic force. Michael Hussey, Brad Hodge, Chris Rodgers and even Boland from the current scene are some of these proficient names. Quality of talent in the domestic set-up also played a big part since the players in the national squad rarely went out of form and the only way to play at International stage was either an injury or a retirement of the first-choice cricketers. This theory has become slightly redundant in recent times. There are no big names knocking down the door specifically in the batting department, forcing the selectors to persist with the same set over and over.
They are embarking on a busy one-year period in Test cricket which has started on a worst possible note. They are scheduled to play potentially 20 matches in the next 12 months across four different continents. This is a perfect time for Cricket Australia to create a plan for the next stage by trying fresh faces and identify the group which is going to take their cricket forward. Mistimed injuries to their bowlers in the Ashes did open up a chance for their selectors and the experiment went successful. A similar pro-active trial can ease up their worries for the failing batting group in a crucial upcoming phase. Communication needs to be crisp and clear if Australia wants to extend their dominance on world stage and arrest a potential decline for one of mammoth force in cricketing circles.
Bangladesh can add an extra batter in a precautionary move
Since dominating the last fixture with both bat and ball, Bangladesh find themselves in a rare powerful position with all the pressure being transferred towards the hosts, trailing 1-0 in the series. All the recent talk has been focused on Australia helping the visitors go unnoticed,= and making their job easier for the final fixture. Tanzid Hasan's maiden century ultimately resolved their long-standing weakness in the opening department and they now have all the basis covered with Mehidy Hasan Miraj acting as all-rounder on the No.7 spot. Hasan Mahmud's 9 wickets in the first match and Mehidy's excellence in both departments, highlights a rare comfort they are enjoying at the moment against a faltering Australian group.
The 34-year old Taijul Islam played a limited role with the ball at Darwin. Cummins opted to bat after winning the toss and the pitch provided adequate help for the pacers hence, both the Bangladeshi spinners were used for only nine overs. The beating sun, changed the complexion of the surface and brought the slower bowlers in the mix. Mehidy used all the help by varying his pace and providing the ball air which left the opponents clueless. Used for 17 overs, Taijul picked up the wicket of Marnus with a full and straight one beating his attempted flick which went on to hit the leg stump. Mackay is also expected to be a bowling-friendly venue adding some intrigue around the selection process for the visitors. Australia has a tendency to come back harder following their listless display, the management can decide to add a specialist batter in place of Taijul, which can extend their batting lineup till number eight, and also give them four proper bowling options.
It would be harsh on Bangladesh's highest wicket-taker in Test cricket given that he recently took seven wickets in the one-off match against Zimbabwe. There is no question around his ability and the team fancies the advantage with their current combination has helped them churn out positive results. Still there is no harm in being a bit cautious given that they are already in the lead and cannot lose the series. Taijul's numbers in foreign conditions are a tab discouraging with his bowling average hovering over 40 in the 20 career away Tests. Taijul has taken 12 wickets from the four games he has played in SENA conditions with a high economy of 3.85. Bangladesh are already stressing on the fitness of the centurion from their last game and their most experienced player, Mushfiqur Rahim. Soumya Sarkar is the back-up opening option. They also have Jaker Ali and Amite Hasan as cover in case Rahim does not turn up fit from the injury he suffered in training. Jaker has cored 4 half-centuries in 6 Tests including a match-winning 91 in the famous Kingston triumph making him a perfect foil for the lower-order role.
Darwin's aftermath exposes Cricket Australia's hypocrisy
Test cricket has been a treasured format in Australia and England with huge crowds attending the game in their home summer every year. The Boxing Day Test at Melbourne and the New Year's Day Test at Sydney, has been part of their tradition for years. CA generally has a designated window to host the longest format from November to January, with the domestic season revolving around it although the BBL has a slight overlap in it's early stage. CA pride themselves in generating huge revenue from Test cricket, something which other smaller nations struggle with since the five-day format becomes a financial burden for most of the Cricketing Boards. Every alternate year, Australia host either England or India for a bumper series, meaning these slots only open up for other cricket six WTC nations in non-England and India years when hosts two countries.
Australia has played Bangladesh for merely 6 Tests since they debut the biggest stage in 2000. The solitary time they played in Australia was 23 years ago, when Darwin and Cairns hosted two Test matches in the month of July. Sri Lanka came next year in the same window, making those two tours a rarity in the schedule and Test has never been hosted in the month of July here ever since. When Bangladesh were due to visit Downunder for a two-match WTC affair, Darwin was again selected as one of the venues along with Mackay being identified as the 12th ground to host the longest format in this country. Australia are currently hosting Test cricket in August for the first time ever. They are already schedule to face New Zealand in a four-match Test series later this year and also a one-off Test against England in March to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Test cricket.
Cricket Australia chief Todd Greenberg will have to make some hard decision after their horror loss at Darwin
As a country labeling themselves a front-runner in keeping the longest format alive, the hosts have always taken a step back when it comes to creating playing opportunities for the lower-ranked nations. Their two-faced nature can be ascertained by the fact that Australia has not yet hosted Sri Lanka for any WTC series in the past seven years and this tour of Bangladesh is a possibility only because of an FTP compulsion. Part of the reason for such a decision, has been the fear that regular crowds may not attend these Tests due to a huge gap in the rankings between the two cricketing nations. They have tried to mask this hypocrisy with a sentiment of promoting the game in the northern tropical regions where International cricket is not given enough hosting rights. The Bangladesh team under captain Najmul Hossain Shanto delivered one of the most complete performances by visiting side in the opening fixture of a Test series in Australia, something of a unique story in Test cricket.
A solid wallop by 165 runs have added to the headache of the hosts with plenty to ponder for them in cricketing as well as organizational sense. The next FTP is still pending approval and we are not sure when these smaller nations are going to visit in this part of the world but one thing is for sure, Bangladesh has proved they cannot be considered pushovers anymore. Another dreadful show at Mackay will certainly ring alarm bells for the WTC tabe-toppers and raise a sudden conversation about their standing in world cricket. ICC's decision to expand the WTC with 12 countries by 2027 offers a chance for boards of countries like Australia and England, to try and make the game more inclusive. Otherwise, with the teams closing the disparity with enhanced skill, plenty of such humbling results are bound to shake World cricket going forward.
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