T20 World Cup 2021: 'Different' Australia can handle Bangladesh's spin, says Agar

Australia needs to beat already-eliminated Bangladesh in the afternoon clash on Thursday in Dubai to stay in contention for the semi-finals.

Published : Nov 03, 2021 13:09 IST , MELBOURNE

FILE PHOTO: Spinner Ashton Agar said that Australia will be able to handle Bangladesh's spin since the wicket in Dubai will not provide assistance similar to the one in Dhaka where a second-string Australia crashed to a 4-1 series defeat.
FILE PHOTO: Spinner Ashton Agar said that Australia will be able to handle Bangladesh's spin since the wicket in Dubai will not provide assistance similar to the one in Dhaka where a second-string Australia crashed to a 4-1 series defeat.
lightbox-info

FILE PHOTO: Spinner Ashton Agar said that Australia will be able to handle Bangladesh's spin since the wicket in Dubai will not provide assistance similar to the one in Dhaka where a second-string Australia crashed to a 4-1 series defeat.

Australia was a different side when it crashed to its first T20 series loss to Bangladesh in August and is not expecting a repeat of its troubles when it faces the south Asians in the World Cup, spinner Ashton Agar said.

Australia needs to beat already-eliminated Bangladesh in the afternoon clash on Thursday in Dubai to stay in contention for the semi-finals.

A second-string Australia crashed to a 4-1 series defeat away to Bangladesh in August but now has its strongest lineup available.

"Very different conditions," Agar told reporters on Wednesday.

"It was probably the first time a lot of us played in 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.

READ:

"But it is very different now, we have a very different-looking side and the wickets certainly aren’t playing like those conditions that we played over there."

Australia was restricted to less than 130 four times in Dhaka as it struggled against the left-arm seam of Mustafizur Rahman and his spin-bowling team mates.

Agar said Dubai's wicket was unlikely to lend the Bangladeshi bowlers similar assistance.

"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 offspinning slower ball was amazing," he said.

"But that relied heavily on the surface that he was bowling ... I doubt it would be as spin-friendly as it would be in Bangladesh."

Third in Group One behind England and South Africa, Australia must beat West Indies after Bangladesh but may also end up relying on undefeated England to help it reach the semi-finals by eliminating the Proteas.

"We’re purely thinking about the two games that we have to win," said Agar.

"We certainly have the side that’s able to do that."

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment