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“We do not have control on wickets. Rather, the curators have control. It will not be wise to think much about it. We will have to perform better than them under any condition, given it is our home. It will be good for me if the wicket helps spin, considering that I am a spinner,” Shakib told the media at SBNS on Thursday. “At the same time, we should also think of our pacers, they are capable of taking wickets. They are experienced. We should not depend only on the spinners. You will see the pacers giving you a vital breakthrough at times and this is way bigger than a spinner taking four or five wickets,” he said. Australia have struggled in the sub-continent in the past 10 years. In their previous six visits to Asia, the side have won only twice. Their most recent win came against host India in February this year.
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The Aussies had started the four-match series with a win only to face a 2-1 defeat with one game finishing in a draw. Shakib and Team Bangladesh are aware of the fact and the former hopes Australia’s struggle would continue as the host expect a possible 2-0 win in the series. “They have the culture of coping quick with foreign condition. They do struggle but they do come over it. We will have to play our best cricket to win against them. It will not be wise to start the series depending on the condition and wicket,” said Shakib. “It is true that we are in a very good shape but it is tough to say if it is the best time for us to play Test against Australia for the simple fact that we did not play against them as of yet (in Test). So it is tough to say if we will have a better chance against them, although they are an inexperienced team, and have struggled in India and Sri Lanka recently. I will hope they continue that way here too and we do well,” concluded the former Bangladesh Test captain.