Spirited Bangladesh aim for the 'unimaginable'

A week after Bangladesh won over the hearts of the cricket world, Pat Cummins insisted that his team didn't require any soul-searching to recover from the shock Darwin defeat. It was if anything a compliment from the Australian Test captain to the manner in which the visitors had dominated proceedings in the Top End. An ode to how comprehensively they'd been outplayed in every facet of the game.

Ironically, both Cummins and his counterpart Najmul Hossain Shanto spoke about wanting to leave Darwin behind and move on from what transpired there. For different reasons of course. But the long trip to Mackay, it took the Aussies and Bangladeshis nine and 14 hours respectively to get here, is probably a good starting point for them to create that genuine distance from the first Test.

Not to forget the completely different climes they've landed in. It's still late winter here in the central coast of Queensland with the constantly stiff breeze the only real challenge to contend with. The conditions in the middle are also expected to be a lot more in keeping with what you generally expect from Test pitches in Australia. A new challenge for the spirited Bangladeshis as they look to build on having done the improbable to pulling off the unimaginable, a Test series win on Australian soil.

Mackay largely still remains a mining town. Though it was once a thriving hub of activity in addition to being the sugar capital of Australia, it's got a more dated feel to it these days with large parts of the city quite desolate. Except when you get to the Harrup Park sports complex, with around four cricket ovals, with the Great Barrier Reef Arena its centrepiece.

What Bangladesh's big win in Darwin has done is at the heart of it question Australia's long-term dominance on home soil, even if they are coming off having vanquished both India and England over the last two summers. And here's a chance for Cummins and his team to prove that last week was a blip.

When: Australia v Bangladesh, 2nd Test, August 22-26, 2026, 10:00 hrs Local Time, 10:00 hrs AEST, 05:30 hrs IST

Where: Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay

What to expect: The curator here was pretty clear in how he views the surface he's prepared for Mackay's first ever Test match, making it the 12th venue to host the traditional format of the sport in the country. "Pace friendly" is how he put it and already there's been a lot of talk about the extra bounce that the Aussie bowlers, including Nathan Lyon, will look to generate as compared to Darwin over the next few days. This is still dry season here in central Queensland but there's some threat of a bit of rain over the weekend, though it should largely not remain a factor.

Team News

Australia

Till around 30 minutes after Cummins spoke to the media on Friday, there remained a very strong possibility that Australia might leave Lyon out of a red-ball Test since the team he established himself as the premier spinner a decade-and-a-half ago. Scott Boland too for good measure seemed to be preparing like he generally does the day before when he's been picked in the playing XI. But a short meeting of the minds around the pitch is all it took for the home team to decide to stick with Lyon, with the only change being the returning Matthew Renshaw, opening the batting for the first time since 2018, for Jake Weatherald.

Playing XI: Travis Head, Matthew Renshaw, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Beau Webster, Mitch Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

Bangladesh

Shoriful Islam has probably been the centre of attention in the Bangladeshi practice sessions over the last two days. When he's not had coach Phil Simmons umpiring him in the net and constantly being in his ear, it's been some of the senior batters egging on the left-arm fast bowler to keep doing what he was doing, which is being a menace with the new ball. Shoriful's arrival and availability for the second Test does throw up some interesting options for Bangladesh. To either replace Taijul Islam and play the fourth fast bowler or leave out Ebadot Hossain or Taskin Ahmed for Shoriful. Especially after Shanto spoke about being more comfortable with his 3-2 pace to spin formation. Tanzid Hasan returned to action after missing a day due to a neck issue and the centurion from Darwin is expected to take his place at the top of the order.

Probable XI: Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan, Mominul Haque, Najmul Shanto (c), Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das (wk), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam/Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Ebadot Hossain