Bangladesh Test skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto said that their upcoming tour to Australia is a way for the team to earn respect, and could open more opportunities to play matches Down Under.

Bangladesh will be missing the service of Nahid Rana during the tour, while Litton Kumar Das and Shoriful Islam are unavailable for the opening Test due to their respective injuries.

Najmulis hopeful that despite missing Rana, his premier fast bowler, he has the attack to take 20 wickets, firmly believing in his spin duo of Taijul Islam and Mehidy Hasan to make a statement in Australia.

“Injuries can happen. Nahid Rana, Shoriful and Litton Das are obviously important players. Injuries are honestly beyond anyone’s control. Any player can get injured at any time.

"But those who are in the squad have also been playing for many years. This is a great opportunity for those who have got their chance to perform well. As captain, I can’t expect to always have my best players available. I have complete faith in whoever gets the opportunity,” Nazmul told reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

“I have complete faith in the team that is going to Australia and believe we can play good cricket. There’s no point now thinking about which player would have made us better or who we’re missing. I think what matters is how well this team can play and how much belief we have in it. I certainly have that belief,” he said.

“In Australian conditions, the expectation is naturally the same—that they can take 20 wickets. We also have two experienced spinners who will support the pace bowlers. Except for Mushfiq, all the pacers in the squad are experienced and have been playing for many years. If they can bowl at their best, taking 20 wickets is definitely possible.

“Our spinners perform well in any conditions. Taijul bhai, Miraz or Nayeem—whoever is there—I believe they can serve the team well,” he said.

“I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to play Test cricket in Australia against them. We should have played more matches there over the last 23 years. If we had played better cricket, perhaps we would have had more opportunities. Our main goal is to play good cricket there and earn respect. If we can play competitive cricket, they’ll definitely invite us again in the future. We play every match to win, but what’s important is how much of a tough time we can give them.

“We’ll try to play the kind of Test cricket we’ve been playing over the last few years. The conditions will be different, so we have to adapt as quickly as possible. There’s no separate plan. The Test team is in a good place. From here, we don’t want to go backwards; instead, the goal is to keep improving,” he said.

Najmul added that they have limited data about the condition while adding that the preparation has not been ideal due to rain.

“It’s difficult to judge the conditions from so far away. I can’t even remember exactly when we last went there, probably 23 years ago. We’ll only understand the conditions after we get there. Whatever the conditions are, as cricketers we have to adapt. I believe our Test team is experienced, especially the batting. The bowling is also going well. If we can adapt to the conditions, we can play good cricket. As for results, over the last few years we’ve gone into every match thinking about how well we can play, not about the outcome. We focus on our process and where our shortcomings are. This series will be no different. The goal is to play good cricket and stick to our process,” he said.

“To be honest, we don’t have a very clear idea yet, but we’re trying to gather information. Our analyst has provided some details. Because of the rain, we couldn’t prepare properly in Bangladesh. We did whatever we could. We also practised against the bowling machine on granite surfaces. There were some shortcomings in our preparation this time,” he said.

Nazmul also explained the reason behind including Soumya Sarkar, who returns to the Test squad after a gap of five years, pointing at his ability to bowl a few overs of gentle medium pace along with the skill to deal with pace and bounce.

“Soumya plays well on bouncy tracks and handles pace bowling well. He’s experienced and has played Test cricket before. He has performed well overseas. There’s also a chance he can contribute with the ball,” said Najmul.

He added that he is not concerned that the batting is overloaded with left-handers: “I don’t think it’ll be much of a problem. We’ll be playing on seaming wickets. If it were a spinning track, maybe we’d think more about a right-left combination. Modern cricket doesn’t leave much room to worry about these things. The four left-handers we have are capable of doing well”.

Bangladesh will depart on July 31 and will play a three-day game against Cricket Australia XI at Darwin from August 6-8. The two-match series, part of the ICC World Test Championship, begins in Darwin from August 13-17 before moving to Mackay for the second and final Test from August 22-26.