History is within Bangladesh's reach, but captain Najmul Hossain Shanto is determined not to let the prospect of a landmark series victory get into his team's heads.

The Tigers need only a draw in Mackay to secure their first Test series win against Australia, while another victory would complete a stunning 2-0 sweep. Yet Shanto insists the focus inside the dressing room remains firmly on the cricket rather than the significance of the result.

“No, I don't want to think that far ahead; I have been saying this from the beginning that we want to play good cricket,” Shanto said at the pre-match press conference on Friday. 

“The important thing is how well we are playing each day, each session. So that will be the target. I think if we follow the process properly, we can play good cricket session by session. The result will come automatically.”

The approach is also about putting the emotion of their historic nine-wicket victory in Darwin behind them.

“Before we came here we always talk about it’s going to be very challenging series for us. We have to enjoy this opportunity and this challenge,” Shanto said. “After the first Test, there is a lot of emotion going on, but as professional cricketers, we have to come again and again to face new conditions and new challenges.”

The captain believes his players have already made that adjustment during the two days of preparation in Mackay.

“The players have adjusted very well during these two days of practice,” he said. “That is in the past now. Now, our preparation over the last two days has been about how we can play good cricket in these conditions and how we can adjust to them.”

The experienced members of the squad have also helped ensure the younger players do not get carried away by the magnitude of what Bangladesh achieved in Darwin.

“Some of the experienced guys talked about how young players should come back and do the right things over and over again in the change room,” Shanto said.

Bangladesh's success in Darwin has already changed the way the team views its prospects away from home. Shanto believes the Tigers need to keep testing themselves in difficult conditions if they are to continue improving.

“Definitely, we should play. I think if we don't play, we won't improve ourselves, and we won't be able to show what we are capable of in world cricket,” he said. “Because we won this last match, we have been able to send a positive message, and we believe that the team we have is capable of playing in any conditions.”