The memory of winning a T20I series against Australia may still be fresh as Bangladesh won 4-1 against them back at home just months ago.
But the scenario has changed completely as Bangladesh have lost all four games so far to get eliminated from the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup, and will face their last match against the Aussies Thursday at Dubai.
The challenge will be even tougher as the Tigers will face a full-fledged Australia side in condition that is altogether different from their favorite Mirpur Stadium.
Moreover, Australia will be desperate to win the match as that will keep their hopes of a semi-final berth alive.
Australia all-rounder Ashton Agar, who played the away series against Bangladesh, said a few of their players played in those conditions for the first time in their career.
But this Australian side have a different squad and the pitch here will be different as well.
The left-arm spinner informed that the Aussie camp is ready to face the Bangladesh challenge and promised to produce a good show.
“At Bangladesh, it was very different conditions. It's probably the first time a lot of us have played in those conditions like that in Bangladesh, and we definitely found that challenging. And to be fair, Bangladesh played those conditions incredibly well, and we weren't surprised that they played well at home, but it is very different now,” said Agar during the pre-match press conference in Dubai.
“We have a very different looking side, and the wickets certainly aren't playing like those pitches that we played on over there. We need to win, and the guys are really excited to play and really want to win as well. It should be a good game,” added the 28-year old.
Bangladesh left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman was in brilliant form during that Australia series and the Tigers left-arm spinners also gave a hard time to the Aussie batters that time.
But the condition will be more batting friendly in Dubai and Bangladesh bowlers need to bowl really well to restrict the Aussie batting line-up as Aaron Finch, David Warner, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis made a return to the T20 World Cup squad.
“I think the conditions played a huge part in Mustafizur being very difficult to face. The amount of spin he was able to get with his big off-spinning slower ball was amazing. But that relied heavily on the surface that he was bowling on and was the same for the spinners," said Agar.
"I don't think any batters really enjoyed batting out there too much, including the Bangladeshi guys. They were able to put a couple of totals of 120 on the board, but that's not cricket you'll see played too often.
“So I think those conditions changing a little bit over here might change a little bit of how the game looks. But I doubt it would be as spin friendly as we saw in Bangladesh."