India skipper Virat Kohli will not be taking Australia lightly despite the hosts missing the services of key batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner who continue to serve their one-year bans from international and domestic cricket.

Australia and India are set to lock horns in the first T20 at Brisbane on Wednesday and Kohli believes the hosts have enough firepower to cause his sides all kinds of troubles despite the absence of Smith and Warner.

“There’s no denying the quality they have in their side,” the India skipper stated on the eve of the T20 series opener.

“They still have world-class cricketers, though missing out on two of the world’s best batsmen in not ideal for any team.

“But the guys they have, especially in the limited-overs game, can do damage at any point in time. You can never underestimate any side. We’re won’t be taking anything for granted.”

While the Aussies are yet to win a single series since the appointment of Justin Langer as head coach, India arrive for the tour on the back of beating West Indies comprehensively across all three formats at home.

Kohli is hoping his men can keep up that winning momentum in their two-month long tour of Australia.

“We definitely have a very strong side. When we step on the field we have 11 individuals striving for excellence, they want to be the best they can,” he said.

“Those are the dynamics that have allowed us to play the cricket that we are and hopefully we can build on that.”

His Australia counterpart Aaron Finch, on the other hand, wants his men to take a more assertive approach in a bid to break their recent losing run. The hosts come into the series on the back of losses to South Africa in the ODI series as well as the one-off T20.

Before that, there were handed defeats in the Test and T20 series against Pakistan as well as a 0-5 ODI humbling at the hands of England.

“It’s going to be a great opportunity for us to come out and express ourselves, play some great attacking cricket, take the game on and really try and take it to India,” Finch stated.

“India are in great form but we feel as though we’ve been building really nicely without getting results going our way so far.”