With a couple of wins over hosts Sri Lanka, a gusty Bangladesh cricket team has entered the Nidahas Trophy final and will take on India in the summit clash in Colombo on Sunday. India's middle-order batsman Dinesh Karthik hailed the Asian Tigers for their spirit, adding that the men-in-blue are well prepared to face them in final.
"Everybody has got a decent hit. Up to no. 6 everybody has batted. So this tournament has been good as everybody has been tested and I think we have done a fair job till now. Going into the final a lot of bases are covered for sure," Karthik said.
India start as favourites against Bangladesh on Sunday, but Karthik refused to take the 'Tigers' lightly.
"As a team they (Bangladesh) are known for that (fighting spirit). They really try hard. They are a team which achieved Test status not many years ago and they propelled forward in all formats of the game," he said.
"They have done well for themselves, especially in sub-continent conditions. They are a very good team. I think we are trying to focus on our processes and routines, that has given us good results till now."
Karthik is aware that non-performance may result in him going off the radar but the wicket-keeper batsman says he would rather "embrace" the pressure rather than run away from it. He has been around Indian cricket for long but has failed to cement his place in the side. He has always been the man to fall back upon when established stars are rested.
"From where I sit, every tournament is important. One bad tournament and I will be way out. So, in every tournament I need to be at the top of my game and try to do as well as I can," Karthik said.
"There is pressure but at where I am sitting, I need to be able to handle that pressure. I need to embrace it rather than run away from it or use it as an excuse. It doesn't matter whether I play this tournament, IPL or the England series, for me every match is important," he added.
Karthik is abreast of the tough competition in the Indian cricket team and said he needs to take every chance that comes his way.
"Opportunities are few and far in between. The competition in the Indian team is so strong that every time you get an opportunity you need to try and give your best. More importantly, I have to perform," he said.
"I am trying to do well in every match. I am not looking too far at the World Cup. As of now from where I am, every match is important and I am trying to do my best."
Spinners have been pretty successful in the tournament so far and Karthik said the key for a batsman against the slow bowlers is to have a positive frame of mind.
"Rotating strike is really important. It is always a little bit harder to rotate strike in these wickets. Odd ball turns while some balls go straight. That's the tricky part of both these wickets and that's why you have seen a lot of dot balls being played. The spinners have been using that and have been bowling pretty consistently with low economy rates," he said.
"So the good thing to do against spinners is to have a positive mindset and look to score runs in every ball rather than looking to survive."
With Sri Lanka out of the final, a relatively empty stadium is likely to greet both the finalists tomorrow and Karthik said crowd presence makes massive difference in a player's performance.
"I think it makes a massive difference. In international cricket you are used to a certain amount of crowd. That is one of the things which spurs you on. It has a massive effect on fielding in the second match we played. I think we fielded the poorest against Bangladesh. We dropped about five catches, we weren't the usual Indian team that's known for its fielding," he said.
"This has been the case for tri-series, so you don't see many tri-series because if the home team is not playing you tend to get a match with very little crowd. Tomorrow the home team is not playing so I don't know how many people are going to turn up. I wish they turn up in good numbers," Karthik concluded.
(With PTI inputs)
