Australian cricket greats Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, and Matthew Hayden couldn’t believe what their eyes were telling their minds in Darwin as Bangladesh handed the hosts a nine-wicket defeat in the first Test. Australia captain Pat Cummins refused to blame the team’s preparations and labelled the Bangla Tigers the side that was better in all three departments of the game. Reflecting on the result, Ponting said that the performance by the tourists made it an “embarrassing” defeat for the hosts, while Waugh called the result the “biggest upset” in the team’s cricketing history.
Australia were undone by Bangladesh in every single aspect of the game. The tourists bowled their hearts out to take an over-200-run first-innings lead. In the second innings, the target of 57 runs was never going to be a challenge for an in-form Bangladesh side.
Mark Waugh, one of the greats of Australian cricket, said he couldn’t remember a more bitter defeat in the country’s history.
“This could possibly be the biggest upset I can remember in Australia,” he said. “The West Indies beat Australia at the Gabba three or four years ago – that was an upset. But this one, given their best two bowlers, Nahid Rana and Shoriful Islam, are not playing, the rankings, and the Australian team being back at full strength, it’s a big one.”
While Cummins said that he was open to making changes to the playing XI for the second Test, Ponting had also commented on the matter shortly before the match concluded.
While Ponting called the result a “very embarrassing defeat”, he had earlier suggested that Australia could benefit from bringing fresh faces into the opening and No. 3 slots.
“Look, I’m the last one who wants to make changes. As a captain or as a player, I wanted to keep the group together,” the former Australia captain said. “It has to get to a bad point before I start saying you ought to leave somebody out. But there has been enough evidence for me coming here to suggest that they weren’t going to lose anything, or much at all, by starting that regeneration – by maybe bringing in another opener, by maybe bringing in someone at No. 3. And I think if they lose here, then that has to happen,” Ponting said on Channel 7.
“It has to get to a bad point before I start saying you’ve got to leave somebody out…”
– Ricky Ponting on what should happen if Australia lose this Test #AUSvBAN pic.twitter.com/dS7jqwFIe0
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) August 16, 2026
Discussing potential changes to the team, Hayden shared his inputs, calling for Travis Head to be demoted to the No. 5 spot.
“(Opening is) not (Head’s) best position. I think his best position is still at No. 5. I don’t like Alex Carey coming out at No. 5,” he said.
“It just feels a little shaky and uncertain,” he added. “And why are we in this position? Australian cricket is so strong. It doesn’t need to be in that position, in my opinion. But who do you pick? That’s a great question. Are you picking match-fit players or are you picking players on talent – like a Sam Konstas, for example?”