Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said his side will take plenty of confidence from its two-Test series in Australia despite suffering a heavy defeat in the second match, adding that the team is keen to return better prepared for the conditions.
Bangladesh stunned the world's top-ranked Test side with a historic nine-wicket victory in Darwin last week, and it's their first-ever Test win on Australian soil and one widely regarded as the biggest result in the team's history.
However, the visitors were thrashed one-sided by Australia in the second Test at Mackay on Sunday, suffering an innings and 51-run defeat as they levelled the series.
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The tour was Bangladesh's first Test series in Australia in 23 years, and Shanto said the experience had given his side a better understanding of the conditions they would face if they returned in the future.
“I think it was a very proud moment as a team, and we showed our character and discipline in the first Test,” he said. But we need to be consistent, and I believe if we are able to get more chances, similar kinds of conditions year after year, it will help us. And that's what we want."
“It's a long time, 23 years, since we came here and we played two Test matches, it's not easy. So if we have that ability, that chance to play every single year, it will help us to improve our game.”
The surface in Mackay, in particular, proved challenging for the visitors, offering considerable pace and bounce.
Australia's left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc was at his best as the 36-year-old ripped through Bangladesh's batting line-up, extracting seam movement and swing to leave the visitors struggling for answers. Bangladesh were eventually bowled out for just 64 in their first innings.
Bangladesh found little improvement in their second innings, collapsing to 95 as Starc once again caused significant problems on a difficult surface.
Starc picked up the ten wickets in a match, which was also a special test for his career. The 36-year-old finished his career's 10th place on the all-time Test wicket-taker's list, with a total of 445 wickets.
He had overtaken South Africa great Dale Steyn, who finished his Test career with 439 wickets, on the opening day of the match.
“They showed their character, and we didn't play our best best match,” said Najmul. This was different conditions (to Darwin). A little extra bounce and swing in the air. It was challenging for us," he added.
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“But as a team if we want to go forward we need to address these conditions and I think this experience will help us moving forward, ” he concluded.
Despite the contrasting results, Bangladesh will leave Australia with a historic victory to remember and valuable experience to draw on. The challenge for Shanto and his team now will be to build on that breakthrough performance and find the consistency needed to compete regularly in challenging overseas conditions.
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