Photo: Collected

The upcoming ICC Champions Trophy is going to be a big challenge for the Bangladesh cricket team. After qualifying for the World Cup by defeating Sri Lanka, the Tigers are now going to participate in the Champions Trophy. However, former Australian World Cup-winning captain Ricky Ponting believes that the Bangladesh team is far behind the other teams in the Champions Trophy.

While discussing Bangladesh's chances in a podcast, Ponting said, "The Bangladesh team is not that strong right now. Especially for a big tournament like the Champions Trophy, their quality is low. Although they can be terrible in home conditions, it is unlikely that they will get that advantage in the Champions Trophy."

The World Cup-winning legend also said, "Bangladesh's lack of quality is visible. Afghanistan is also more potential for them. I think Afghanistan will do better than Bangladesh in the Champions Trophy."

Bangladesh played 9 ODIs last year and lost 6. Their recent performance is also not very promising, especially during their tour of West Indies. They even lost the series against Afghanistan by 2-1.

According to Ponting, the Bangladesh team is not ready to compete in a big tournament like the Champions Trophy at the moment.