Can Bangladesh overcome Shakib al Hasan's absence in Champions Trophy?

Bangladeshs absence of legendary allrounder Shakib al Hasan an inform core lack of winning momentum and inability to defend totals well are some talking points as they kickstart their ICC Champions Trophy campaign on ThursdayBangladesh will kickstart their CT campaign against India on Thursday in Dubai followed by matches against New Zealand February 24 and Pakistan February 27 at Rawalpindi respectivelyBilateral formHeading into the Champions Trophy Bangladesh has participated in four bilateral series winning just one of those against Sri Lanka at home Their record away from home is particularly bad having lost all three series so far away from home Out of 12 ODIs they have won just four and eightA look into their bilateral form Bangladesh tour of New Zealand lost 12 Sri Lanka tour of Bangladesh won 21 Afghanistan vs Bangladesh in UAE lost 12 Bangladesh tour of West Indies lost 30PositivesPlenty of inform batters In Soumya Sarkar skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto Mehidy Hasan Miraz Mahmadullah and Mushfiqur Rahim Bangladesh has three to four extremely reliable batters who can give Bangladesh the totals it needsX factor of Mehidy In the absence of veteran Shakib Ali Hasan Bangladesh has an extremely capable spin bowling allrounder who can turn matches on its head on his dayInform pacers The teams frontline pacers Taskin Ahmed Mustafizur Rahman and Shoriful Islam have enjoyed a solid run of form in their matches and teams do need to play them with utmost cautionNegativesAbsence of Shakib This will be the first tournament in a long while in which Bangladesh will be playing without their experienced allrounder Shakib who has not been included in the team Bangladesh will miss his bigmatch experience and presencePoor history in ICC tournaments Bangladesh has struggled to make a mark in ICC tournaments except for the semifinals of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy The memories of this poor run could come back to haunt them causing them to deviate from their natural gameLack of winning momentum Winning momentum is an underrated factor It always keeps teams in good spirits eager to play their natural game However with just four wins in the last 12 ODIs Bangladesh head to CT as a unit that does not look very threateningPoor ability to defend totals Heading into the World Cup Bangladesh have lost six of their eight matches while defending the total and won just once However while chasing they have a better track record with three wins and two lossesTop performers from the 2023 World Cup end so farTop rungetters Soumya Sarkar 430 runs in 11 innings at an average of 4300 with a century and two fifties Najmul Hossein Shanto 358 in eight innings at an average of 5966 with a century and two fifties Mehidy Hasan Miraz 352 runs in 10 innings at an average of 3977 with three fifties Mahmudullah 337 runs in nine innings at an average of 4814 with four fifties and Tanzid Hassan 234 runs in seven innings at an average of 3342 with two fiftiesTop wickettakers Taskin Ahmed 14 wickets in seven matches at an average of 2392 Shoriful Islam 13 wickets in 10 matches at an average of 3430 Mustafizur Rahman 11 wickets in six matches at an average of 2427 Mehidy Hasan Miraz nine wickets in 12 matches at an average of 5622 and Tanzim Hasan eight wickets in six innings at an average of 3425Bangladesh squad for CT2025 Najmul Hossain Shanto c Soumya Sarkar Tanzid Hasan Tawhid Hridoy Mushfiqur Rahim MD Mahmud Ullah Jaker Ali Anik Mehidy Hasan Miraz Rishad Hossain Taskin Ahmed Mustafizur Rahman Parvez Hossain Emon Nasum Ahmed Tanzim Hasan Sakib Nahid Rana