Bangladesh’s selectors have brought back Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman and Nahid Rana into the side after they were rested for the previous T20I series, against New Zealand in April. Shoriful Islam, who took career-best figures of 6 for 48 in the third ODI in Dhaka, is also in the squad, alongside the uncapped allrounder Abdul Gaffar Saqlain. Litton has to now choose three from these five pace bowling options.

“It is always good news that your bench is strong too,” Litton said. “You can pick any player into your playing XI. It is a healthy competition, and at the same time, how good is that for Bangladesh cricket team? Taskin and Fizz are big names. They were rested in the last (T20I) series. They are back in this series, so we are going into the matches with our full strength.

“Shoriful too is a first-choice bowler. But the thing is, we can’t play more than three in a playing XI. We have so many fast bowling options these days, in Tests, ODIs and T20Is. Someone is having to sacrifice particularly when the fast bowling unit does well on any given day. Shoriful bowled well in our last T20I (against New Zealand). It is always good to see those who are coming into the side, performing instantly.”

“I think it’s really exciting for Bangladesh cricket to have some big bowlers. We have seen different conditions to what we were exposed to in 2021. I think that’s great for cricket. We are look forward to the 2027 World Cup in South Africa.

“It is a really exciting prospect for them and we look forward to that challenge of playing against them in this format now. They are a well-rounded side. They have been playing some really good cricket off late and that will provide us with a great challenge, one that we will be up for.”

Australia will hope that the likes of Nikhil Chaudhary, Joel Davis, Aaron Hardie and Spencer Johnson can bring them a positive result from the three T20Is in Chattogram. Marsh said that the changed format, and the injection of new blood is giving him hope of a series win.

“We have got a bit of change over in personnel, and the guys are really looking forward to this series. No doubt it’s been a tough tour but we are going with high hopes to hopefully win this series and play some really good cricket. We have some experienced guys coming back, no doubt. We will have some fresh faces and some young guys that will provide some great energy,” he said.

Among those who didn’t play in the ODI series is Tim David, whose inclusion in the T20I side gives Australia the edge, according to Marsh.

“I think anytime you welcome one of the best middle-order players in the world into your team. He is experienced, really confident in his ability. We welcome him back into our side. He is really valuable to us. It is great having him back.”

Litton said that he expects Australia to fight back hard, especially because they have a bigger profile in the T20 format.

“Every team will be in attacking mood in this format. Australia is a big name. They will try to play their best cricket, but so would we.

“We played really well in the three ODIs so you need that mindset when you are coming up against a big team like Australia. Obviously it is a different format; we both have different teams. We have to play well on the given day.”