A rare opportune moment

Two days into Australia, the national football team's booters are still battling to adjust to the chilly temperature in Melbourne, but they expect to acclimate before the match against Australia on Thursday.

Following their arduous 20-hour flight from Dhaka to Melbourne, the charges of Spanish coach Jaiver Cabrera went through a recovery session at the team hotel before conducting their first training session with the ball yesterday at the Yarraville Glory Football Club site in Victoria.

Despite the frigid and windy conditions, the men in red and green focused on technical and tactical areas to tackle the FIFA-ranked 27th side, who faced Ecuador, Argentina, Mexico, and England this year.

"It has overall been quite good preparation on the first day of the training. The weather has been cold compared to Bangladesh's and that's why we are facing a bit of a problem. However, the coach wants us to adjust with the weather quickly, then it will help us play the match against Australia," winger Mohammad Ibrahim said in a video message sent by Bangladesh Football Federation.

Ibrahim added, "Can't deny that they [Australia] are one of best teams in the world, so our job is to spoil their attack as much as possible, and today [Monday] we practiced how to form the defensive blocks against them."

Captain Jamal Bhuiya also revealed that his teammates are struggling with the chilly conditions, but he feels that everyone will be ready for the match against Australia.

"It was great that the entire team had the first practice in Melbourne after only two days. It's cold here, and everyone felt it except me and Tareq, who are used to it," Jamal said.

"I believe everyone would adopt within one or two days as we have to play at 8 pm. Everyone is confident and concentrating hundred percent on the match."

The Bangladesh cricket team returned from India this morning following a disappointing World Cup campaign, where they lost seven of their nine matches.

The Tigers returned from Pune on a special chartered flight of ICC, landing in Dhaka at 10am.

Shakib Al Hasan, the team's captain, had already returned ahead of the last match due to an injury.

All the other members of the team returned on the same flight, including head coach Chandika Hathurusingha but the rest of the the coaching staff did not return with the team.

Some of the members of the coaching staff, including pace bowling coach Allan Donald and computer analyst Srinivas, have already bid goodbye to the team.

Head coach Chandika Hathurusingha and the remaining members of the coaching staff will come to Dhaka later this month ahead of the two-match Test series at home against New Zealand.  

Bangladesh take on Australia in their first T20 World Cup Super 8 fixture at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Friday.

Highlights

*Australia have six wins to their name against Bangladesh's four in 10 T20Is. All four of the Tigers' victories came in Mirpur.

*Bangladesh have never beaten Australia in the T20 World Cup, losing in five meetings.

*Average first innings total at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium is 118. Pacers and spinners have had similar experiences at the venue as both have conceded runs at less than seven an over. In this T20 World Cup, however, spinners have conceded more, 8.45 runs an over, than pacers (7.74).

*Bangladesh pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib has taken seven wickets in the Powerplay, joint-most with Afghanistan Fazalhaq Farooqi for most scalps taken in the first six overs in the tournament. Meanwhile, Mustafizur Rahman's 67 dot balls is the joint-most in the group-stage of the tournament alongside New Zealand's Lockie Ferguson.

*At the batting front, Marcus Stoinis (10) and Travis Head (9) both are in the top five for most sixes hit in the edition so far. Towhid Hridoy is in the top 10 with six maximums.

*Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib, who will be on a hattrick whenever he comes to bowl against Australia, needs one wicket to become the first player to take 50 wickets in T20 World Cup history. He is also two wickets away from becoming only the second player after Tim Southee (164) to take 150 scalps in the format.

Leaving the disastrous performance against Australia behind, Bangladesh are looking forward to securing three points against Lebanon in their home match of the World Cup Qualifiers at the Bashundhara Kings Arena today.

The match will kick off at 5.45pm, with sports channel T Sports telecasting live.

Coach Javier Cabrera tried to get the players refocus on the game and motivate them since the team's return from Melbourne three days ago. The 39-year-old coach believes the experience against Australia will have a positive impact on today's performance.

"Definitely we had a lot of positive things to take from the match against Australia. From the beginning, I told the players that we had no interest in the score [against Australia] at all because we knew this could happen," Cabrera said at the pre-match press conference yesterday.

"7-0 to me has zero value or 4-0, I don't care. The team competed till the end in a very difficult contest and I am absolutely convinced that that is going to have a positive impact in the next game," Cabrera added.

Bangladesh put up a brilliant fight against Lebanon five months ago in the SAFF Championship where they eventually lost 2-0. However, the current Lebanon squad have only 10 players from that campaign, with new coach Nikola Jurcevic taking charge last month.

"We are very excited about tomorrow….We are convinced that we are going to give our best for Bangladesh and its people so won't see any difference between the two teams. We are absolutely convinced that we can play with them and we can fight to get three points," said Cabrera, however admitting that Lebanon will have a physical advantage while Bangladesh will enjoy home advantage.

In the two meetings prior to the SAFF Championship, Bangladesh and Lebanon had one win each, with the men in red and green winning 2-0 at home after suffering a 4-0 away defeat during the 2014 World Cup pre-qualifiers.

Captain Jamal Bhuiyan said that they have to forget the result against Australia and move on.

"Before the start of the World Cup Qualifiers, I said that we have chances to get some points against Lebanon and Palestine and things remain the same. We know if we can beat Lebanon, then everyone will talk about the win in the next five months, not about the defeat against Australia. I can say that we are ready for tomorrow's match."

"On paper, we are favourites but I told my players that the favourite team doesn't always win. We must show on the pitch. The match will be very difficult for us but our players are motivated and we will try to do everything to win the game," Jurcevic said.

Mitchell Marsh hit his second hundred in the ongoing ICC World Cup as Australia ended the group stage with a seventh successive win after two defeats at the start of their quest for a record-extending sixth title.

Marsh's unbeaten 177 helped Australia to beat Bangladesh by eight wickets in Pune on Saturday.

The 32-year-old all-rounder expressed his thanks to the leaders of his team with his second World Cup century following a challenging week for his family.

An emotional Mitch Marsh revealed his gratitude to Australia team leaders for permitting him compassionate leave during the mega event, allowing him to send off his beloved 'Pop' following his death last week. 

Marsh flew home to be in Perth for his maternal grandfather Ross' final days, missing the Aussies' match against England, before rejoining the team for their final two group matches against Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

The allrounder said his match-winning century on Saturday was the first innings of his career his grandpa did not see. 

"He was a huge part of my career – he always used to tell me he bowled 150kph. Unfortunately, he didn't give me that gene," the typically disarming Marsh, who shares the middle name Ross with his brother Shaun, told reporters in Pune after the win over Bangladesh.  

Marsh watched the funeral on a live stream before Australia trained on Friday in Pune, expressing his appreciation to captain Pat Cummins and coach Andrew McDonald for being able to return home.

"It's obviously a challenging week for the family," said Marsh. "My Pop was an outstanding man and just a huge cricket supporter and he's watched a lot of cricket over his time.  

"It was sad but he lived a beautiful life.  

"The fact that Ronnie (McDonald) and Patty allowed me to go back without questioning anything, putting our family first, it meant a lot to me. 

"Sitting with my grandma watching the boys wear black armbands (was special), little things that probably a lot of people think that goes unnoticed on TV."

"I felt really cared for and to go back into the World Cup was a big call, but now that we've qualified, it's all worth it," said Marsh.  

"I felt really supported from our group, from our family. My Nanna was very vocal about me coming straight back and getting stuck in. My Pop certainly would have been as well. 

"That gave me a lot of happiness to come back and do this. I've worked my whole career to be able to play the World Cup so Pop certainly would have understood that."