Bangladesh pace spearhead Mashrafe Bin Mortaza believes Australia can be defeated on a day of the Tigers. “Australia may no longer be the world champions, but they are still a very strong team. On our day, we can beat them,” Mashrafe told reporters on Sunday after a practice session at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

Australia are scheduled to play three ODIs—on Apr 9, 11 and 13—in Dhaka. Reminding the fans’ sky-high expectation upon the Tigers in the World Cup, he advised them to be more realistic. “Nothing wrong in dreaming defeat of Australia on home soil…but the difference of strength has to be kept in mind,” said the pacer, who was left out of the World Cup squad for injuries.

“Australia is still one of the strongest teams in the world. The team’s batting line-up is superb. Almost all of them are in form. Ricky Ponting is heated after stepping down from captaincy. “So, to do well, our bowlers have to be spot-on.”

He also pointed at the Australian bowling, saying that “the Aussie pace attack is world-class. They have bowled well in the World Cup. But their spin department lacks experience”.

On the opponent’s weaknesses, Mashrafe said, “Australian batsmen have struggled against spin. On the other hand, their batsmen’s efforts were wasted because of their bowlers. Their spinners could not create much impact.” Mashrafe, in tune with the fans, agreed that the Tiger-batsmen needed to be more responsible “if they want to create any winning chance”.

On his fitness, he said that he was unsure of his participation, as he was still fighting for his fitness. “I had no problem in taking run-up in the last match, but pace was a little less. “However, the pace was fine [on Sunday]. It’s only a matter of time,” the striking bowler added.