Bangladesh head coach Phil Simmons has urged his players to keep their feet on the ground after their historic nine-wicket Test triumph over Australia at Darwin, cautioning that the hosts will return with renewed ferocity when the two sides meet in the series-deciding second Test at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay from August 22.

Bangladesh stunned the cricketing world by beating Australia inside four days in the series opener, and are now eyeing their maiden series win on Australian soil. But Simmons, speaking to reporters on Thursday, was keen to temper the excitement sweeping through the camp.

'Australia Will Come Harder'

"The only thing I had to say to them, and I will repeat it anywhere, is that Australia is going to come harder. So we have to either keep that level of performance or get a little bit better," Simmons told reporters.

"Even if we get 1% better in some areas, then we will have to make sure that that's there. But we know that they are going to change their game, they're going to come harder at us," he added.

Simmons emphasised the importance of his batters taking responsibility in the first innings, stressing that posting a substantial total is the key to putting Australia under pressure in the second Test.

"Test cricket is five days and if my team can bat for 11 hours out of that five days, then the other team must be under pressure. So for me, that's how I learned to play Test cricket, that you bat, you get a score, a big first innings score is always good, and then you put the other team under pressure," he explained. "We're trying to bat and get big scores in the first innings and make sure that the other team has to do a lot of work to get to our score."

Best Test Win of His Coaching Career

Simmons did not mince words when describing the significance of the Darwin victory, calling it the finest Test win of his coaching tenure.

"Definitely the best Test win I've had in my coaching career. I've had other formats with big ones, but the Test (win over Australia in Darwin) was the best," he said.

What made the triumph particularly remarkable was that it came on the back of a disappointing lone practice game against Cricket Australia XI, where Bangladesh were bundled out for just 54 in their second innings and beaten by an innings margin. Simmons, however, said he never lost faith in his players because their work ethic remained consistent throughout.

"I've seen the practices. I've seen how we practised before the three-day game and I've seen how we practised the three days before the Test match. The work didn't change," said Simmons. "Even though we made 54 that day, when we came back, the work didn't change, the work rate didn't change. So it gave me that sort of confidence that guys want this and they want to do well. So it was always going to come at some point."

Growing Respect on the Road

Simmons believes Bangladesh are earning increasing respect in world cricket for their performances away from home, a trend that began with their Test series win over Pakistan and has only continued in Australia.

"Again, we gain more respect. I don't think we don't have respect. I think we have respect. We gain a little more from our away playing now. You know, before we were a little bit suspect, but now I think we're gaining a lot of respect from playing away," he said.

"But that's not from now. That's from (the time) we beat Pakistan in Pakistan. So, we've been gaining more and more respect, so this just adds to it."

Mushfiqur Rahim Nearing Milestone

Simmons also took a moment to praise veteran batter Mushfiqur Rahim, who is on the verge of becoming the first Bangladesh batter to reach 7,000 Test runs. The head coach said he was delighted to see Rahim thriving in the team environment.

"He (Mushfiqur) is loving it. You can see on the field, he's loving just playing and being part of the team. He's gone past a hundred Test matches, he has nothing to prove. He's just enjoying his Test cricket now, which I'm so happy to see," Simmons remarked.

Managing Expectations

Simmons acknowledged that expectations back in Bangladesh are always high, and the historic win in Darwin has only amplified them. However, he confirmed that the squad has settled down after a few days of reflection and is focused on the challenge ahead.

"Bangladesh, you always, there's always expectation, especially when we win. We won the last couple Test matches, but we lost in Zimbabwe. But there's always that expectation from Bangladesh people for the cricket team. So nothing changes there," he said.

"Bangladeshi people are emotional. I am not the same, so it's easy for me to control that, but it's difficult for them. But I think looking at them today, guys are settled back down. We've had a couple days, three days actually now, so guys have settled back down a lot and we hope that tomorrow again is a little more settling so we start on the right footing on Saturday morning," he concluded.