A wary Australian squad have gone to bruising lengths to prevent Bangladesh from springing a Test series upset.

Steve Smith’s men will slump to No.6 in the Test rankings if the Tigers manage to win both games during the two-Test series that gets under way in Dhaka on Sunday.

Such an outcome is not beyond the realms of possibility considering Australia’s poor record on the subcontinent, having not won a Test series there since beating Sri Lanka 1-0 in 2011.

Bangladesh have improved rapidly over the past 18 months and are particularly dangerous on their home turning tracks, as shown in their maiden Test win over England last year, reports WA Today.

Teenage offspin prodigy Mehedi Hasan looms as a particularly significant threat after claiming man-of-the-series honours against England with 19 wickets from two Tests.

Australia have prepared accordingly, even reprising an old trick encouraged by former Test opener Justin Langer during his stint as national batting coach.

Opener Matt Renshaw and likely No.3 Usman Khajawa have spent time during the squad’s training sessions in Dhaka facing spinners in the nets without their front pads on.

All-rounder Glenn Maxwell said the technique had been adopted to help counter the relentless pressure the Bangladeshi spin brigade were capable of producing.

‘If you don’t have the safety of your front pad there, it makes you get your leg out of the way and actually use your bat,’ he said.

‘It’s more about refining your defence and making sure you’re trusting the fact you’ll hit the ball, and not hoping that your pad’s there just to save you.

‘It’s more for the guys that are hitting the stumps repeatedly, and Bangladesh do that really well.

‘They bowl the ball stump to stump and they put pressure on your defence.’

The Bangladeshi monsoon season has made for punishing training conditions, with periodic rain and thunderstorms giving way to sweltering heat and humidity.

Maxwell felt the pinch more than most, suffering a bout of heatstroke during the first day of training.

The forced cancellation of Australia’s only tour match raised questions about their preparedness, but Maxwell said the squad’s pre-tour training camp in Darwin had been ample preparation.

‘We put extreme conditions in Darwin with the wickets where we made them ridiculously tough to bat on, and guys tested themselves really well during that week,’ Maxwell said.

‘I think the guys are more than well-equipped to handle whatever comes at us in this first Test.’