DHAKA, June 16, 2026 (BSS) - Buoyed by their historic ODI series victory over 
Australia, Bangladesh will look to carry the momentum into the shortest 
format when they take on the visitors in the opening match of the three-game 
T20 International series at Bir Shrestha Shahid Flight Lieutenant Motiur 
Rahman Stadium in Chattogram tomorrow (Wednesday).

The match is scheduled to begin at 2:00 PM local time.

Bangladesh secured the ODI series 2-1 after outplaying Australia for much of 
the three-match contest. While the triumph marked Bangladesh's maiden ODI 
series victory over the Australians, they had previously enjoyed success 
against them in T20 cricket.

Of the 11 T20 Internationals played between the two sides, Bangladesh have 
won four, all of which came during their memorable 4-1 series victory in 
Mirpur in 2021, the last T20I series contested between the teams.

Despite concerns over batting depth, Bangladesh captain Liton Das pinned 
hopes on the side's strong pace-bowling resources ahead of the series.

The hosts possess an impressive pace attack featuring Taskin Ahmed, 
Mustafizur Rahman, Nahid Rana, Shoriful Islam and emerging fast bowler Abdul 
Gaffar Saqlain. Except for Gaffar, all were part of the ODI squad and played 
key roles in Bangladesh's successful campaign against Australia.

"It is good that the pace bowling is very strong. You can play anyone in the 
best XI. It is a good competition. It is also good for the Bangladesh team 
that the bench is getting stronger," Liton said.

Liton said the confidence to expect for another series victory stemmed from 
their ODI series win.

"Not only did we win the series, we played very good cricket in all three 
matches. This is an added bonus. Of course, the format is different, our team 
is different, their team is also different."

"One good thing is that most of our players have played in ODIs. Everyone has 
confidence. But we have to play very good cricket on a certain day," he said.

Australia, meanwhile, avoided a series whitewash with a hard-fought one-
wicket victory in the third ODI after losing the opening two matches.
The visitors have been boosted by the return of regular captain Mitchell 
Marsh, who missed the ODI series due to an ankle injury.

Australia have also included all-rounder Nikhil Chaudhary in their T20 squad. 
If selected in the playing XI, he could become the first Indian-born male 
cricketer to represent Australia in more than six decades.

Chaudhary was brought into the squad amid the continued absence of Travis 
Head, who has been granted personal leave after initially being named in 
Australia's limited-overs squads for the Bangladesh tour.

Squad

Bangladesh: Liton Das (Captain), Parvez Hossain Emon, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, 
Saif Hassan, Shamim Patwari, Towhid Hridoy (Vice Captain), Nurul Hasan Sohan, 
Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Rishad Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, 
Taskin Ahmed, Nahid Rana, Abdul Gaffar Saqlain and Soumya Sarkar

Australia: Mitchell Marsh(c), Xavier Bartlett, Nikhil Chaudhary, Cooper 
Connolly, Tim David, Joel Davies, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, 
Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Matthew Kuhnemann, Riley Meredith, 
Josh Philippe, Matthew Renshaw and Adam Zampa.