DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) Bangladesh is getting confident ahead of its home test series against Australia, which starts Sunday in Mirpur.
''I think we gained confidence from our performance in the last two years,'' Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim said Saturday, with a home test victory against England and beating Sri Lanka away. ''We were consistent and proved we have the ability to beat any team at the moment. That's why everyone is saying about 2-0 (to Bangladesh).''
Bangladesh has not beaten Australia in four test matches since gaining test status in 2000. The two teams last met in a test match 11 years ago.
Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha and allrounder Shakib Al Hasan said they were targeting a 2-0 win in the two-test series.
Australia captain Steven Smith said the record didn't back them up.
''I think Bangladesh have won only nine out of their 100 games,'' Smith said. ''So it's very confident prediction. But obviously they are confident about their skillset at the moment ... Bangladesh have been playing well at home. So it's gonna be a good challenge for us.''
Australia won only two matches in 20 on the subcontinent in the last decade but took a lot of positives from a 2-1 defeat against India earlier this year.
''It's a great challenge for my group of players to see what we have learned from India. Looking at the wicket I think it's gonna be somewhat similar (to India),'' Smith said.
Australia's practice in Dhaka was interrupted by persistent rain and forced the cancellation of its only warmup game for the first test at Shere Bangla National Stadium.
''There's no tour match but that's something we can't control. But we worked really hard this week. And we are ready to go tomorrow,'' Smith said.
