COLOMBO — India’s wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik Saturday said Bangladesh is always a tricky opposition and that his team would bring high intensity to the Twenty20 tri-series final between the two sides Sunday.

Skipper Rohit Sharma’s team was the first to book its place in the final after winning three of its four games at Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium.

India holds a psychological edge going into the tournament decider, with a 7-0 record in T20s against lowly-ranked Bangladesh.

But Karthik insisted India would not take Bangladesh lightly after the Shakib Al Hasan-led team stunned Sri Lanka, beating the hosts by two wickets Friday to reach the final.

“In sub-continent conditions, (Bangladesh) are a very good team,” Karthik told reporters.

“When we play Bangladesh, if we win, it’s like ‘Ok, you’ve won against Bangladesh’, but if we lose, it’s like: ‘Dude, you’ve lost to Bangladesh. What are you doing?’“

India went into the tournament without top guns Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and lost their opening match to Sri Lanka, but soon bounced back to win three straight games.

Karthik, a powerful middle-order batsman who is mostly a second-choice wicketkeeper behind Dhoni, said the team has not lost focus in the absence of big names.

“The first thing (Sharma)... said was that although we have a few of our other players missing, we’re looking to play exactly the sort of cricket that we’ve played in the past one year. We’re looking to win every match,” Karthik said.

India is third in the world T20 rankings, with Pakistan at the top, while Bangladesh are 10th below minnows Afghanistan.

Shakib, Nurul fined following Friday fracas

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan and reserve player Nurul Hasan have been fined 25 percent of their match fees and handed one demerit point each for code of conduct breaches during Friday’s ill-tempered Twenty20 international against Sri Lanka.

Ugly scenes unfolded during the closing stages of Bangladesh’s successful run chase when play was briefly halted as the tourists remonstrated about two shoulder-high balls at the start of an eventful final over from Isuru Udana.

A furious Shakib was seen gesturing from the boundary to batsmen Mahmudullah and Rubel Hossain to come off the field after the second bouncer was not called a no-ball.

Nurul, who had entered the playing area carrying a team message, was seen pointing at Sri Lanka captain Thisara Perera.

Shakib was found guilty of “conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game”, while Nurul displayed “conduct that brings the game into disrepute”, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said in a statement Saturday.

“Friday’s incidents were disappointing as you don’t want to see such player behavior during any level of cricket,” match referee Chris Broad said.

“I understand that it was a tense and an edge-of-the-seat match with place in the final on the line, but the actions of the two players were unacceptable and cannot be condoned as they clearly went overboard.

“Had the fourth umpire not stopped Shakib and the fielders remonstrating, and then the on-field umpires not intervened between Nurul and Thisara, things could have become worse.”

Mahmudullah smashed a six off Udana’s fifth delivery to secure a thrilling two-wicket victory and a place in Sunday’s tri-series final against India. — Agencies