Kohli says weakened Australia still ‘world-class’

BRISBANE, Australia: India captain Virat Kohli insisted Tuesday Australia have the quality to upset the odds in their Twenty20 series and said his team will be focusing on the “little things” to come out on top.

The visitors open their tour with the first of three T20s in Brisbane on Wednesday ahead of four Tests and three One-Dayers that will keep them in Australia until late January.

In the short format, they have been by far the better team in recent times. Australia have also been weakened by ball-tampering bans to key batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner.

“We definitely have a very strong side,” said Kohli, who last month became the fastest to reach 10,000 runs in One-Day Internationals, breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record.

“When we step on the field we have 11 individuals striving for excellence, they want to be the best they can.

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

While Kohli is a dangerman for India, so are KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma, who has smashed two centuries in four T20 innings since July. They both sit above their captain on the T20 batting rankings.

Despite Australia being without Smith and Warner — who will need to serve their full 12-month bans for ball-tampering, after Cricket Australia Tuesday ruled out any reductions on Tuesday — Kohli is adamant the hosts still pose a big threat.

“There’s no denying the quality they have in their side,” he said.

“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.”

India arrived in Australia on the back of a home thrashing of the West Indies, but their form traditionally is more fragile on the road.

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (capt), Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Ben McDermott, Glenn Maxwell, D´Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.

India squad: Virat Kohli (capt), Khaleel Ahmed, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Manish Pandey, Krunal Pandya, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Umesh Yadav.