Can Tigers build on the England series?

2-0 has been the refrain, a scarcely believable one if you consider who the opposition are. Much of the courage, or foolhardiness, depending on how you see it, behind that forecast from almost everybody in the Bangladesh squad stems from the result of Bangladesh's last home series against England last year. Shakib's salute to the stands after bowling Ben Stokes and tumbling the first of four English dominoes is by now part of Bangladesh cricket folklore, but the victory that swiftly followed squared a series 1-1 instead of blanking a strong visiting side.

But that such talk has escaped the tight seal of the dressing room door before the series against Australia starts is an indicator of the Tigers' confidence, which has its origins in Test skipper Mushfiqur Rahim having the courage to ask for a spinning wicket against England in Chittagong last October. Bangladesh had then found the weapon with which to dominate home Tests and a perfectly willing and able spin trio of Shakib Al Hasan, Mehedi Hasan and Taijul Islam to wield it.

Asking for the pitch was as big a departure from the Bangladesh of old as was their first ever Test victory over England.

"Before then [Chittagong 2016], we thought that we would make big scores, so that we could at least play a good Test match," Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Bangladesh's ODI captain, told The Daily Star yesterday. "But now since the boys think about winning, I think that is definitely a positive way to think. Before, the pitches were slow and did not turn much. Last year I think what we had were pitches that, although still slow, turned and were prone to breaking up more."

In 2016, even after the disappointment of losing a hard-fought first Test in Chittagong, Mushfiqur had said: "This is the first time that we got a wicket suited to our plans. The positive sign was that we took 20 wickets."

Indeed, Mushfiqur was instrumental, but according to Mashrafe the idea would have had to be bought into by the rest of the team for it to be executed the way it was over the two Tests against England. "Whatever decision a team takes, it is taken with everyone on board. There is always a risk while playing, but I don't think it is as if it's happening through just one person," Mashrafe, who played the last of his 36 Tests against the West Indies in 2009, said.

BATTING IMPROVEMENTS HELPED SPIN STRATEGY

Enamul Haque Jnr, a left-arm spinner who played 15 Tests through the relatively darker period between 2003 and 2013, credited a department that may not be immediately obvious when talking about the change to spinning tracks from batting-friendly ones.

"Our batting has become much stronger, we have some world-class players. Shakib averages 40, Tamim averages 40. Mushfiqur is there. We now know we can counterattack. We can score 400 and we can also chase 250.

"We could not take full advantage of our strengths when I was playing. In the England series, we had good spinners and so we made spinning wickets. This is the sign of us changing into a good team," said Enamul, who held the record for the best Test match analysis by a Bangladesh bowler of 12 for 200 against Zimbabwe in 2005 before Mehedi surpassed him with a cheaper 12-wicket haul in his debut series.

The series about to get underway today has had the longest build-up in recent memory, with Bangladesh starting their training camp a month and a half in advance. Coupled with the 2-0 talk, expectations of a home victory will be high and at a fever pitch. According to Mashrafe, it may not be that simple: "I think maybe Australia can handle spin better [than England]. And the other thing is they have good spinners. But both sides are among the best Test teams."

2-0 may well be bluster and unrealistic, but the greater point of interest in this series should surround not whether Bangladesh can win 2-0, but if they can solidify a newly discovered home advantage against one of the best teams in the world.