I don't see any competition with Rohit: Kohli

Promising middle-order batsman Virat Kohli doesn't see any competition with compatriot Rohit Sharma on the ongoing Australian tour or in near future as he has little doubt that both would be serving the Indian team in the days to come.

The two steadied Indians' innings with a fifth-wicket stand of 101 as they folded up for 269 in their three-day warm-up match against Cricket Australia's Chairman's XI, in Canberra, on Tuesday.

"We know in future we are going to play for the team so I don't see any competition in that, it's just a matter of who gets to play when, who gets into that zone and start scoring runs," Kohli said.

"I have being asked this question, there is always competition for a particular spot in the team. You've 2-3 good players waiting to grab the chance."

While Kohli's consistency over the past one year has helped him stake claim for the number six spot, Sharma, after his brilliant batting display against the West Indies recently, is giving the Delhi lad competition.

"We (Rohit and himself) have had some good stands together. It's good for Indian cricket, in future when the situation arises, then we have a better understanding. It's a healthy competition and it's good for the team."

Kohli, who batted ahead of Sharma at No. 4 on Monday, termed his knock as useful in view of the upcoming Test series.

"It was good to get a knock out there. Especially going up the order was much better. It was a practice game and you needed good work-out against seam bowlers as well, and then there were spinners. Going in pretty early when the ball was reasonably new was a help. When the ball gets old on this kind of wicket, it becomes batting paradise."

"Even in the nets, we try to use new balls as much as we can since old Kookaburra balls come on to the bat very nicely. The ball doing a bit can really prepare you well."

Kohli has a feeling that the Australian batsmen would have to work hard to come to terms with the Indian bowling.

"We have bowlers who can bowl quick like Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav and then we have guys like Zaheer Khan, Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun who can swing it. They can bowl consistently in the right area and use up pace as well. So they (Australians) would have to work hard to score runs against us in the series."

Australian cricket is going through a transitional phase after the retirements of some of the biggest names in world cricket.

"They have new players. You can't probably compare their skills with the team that dominated previously. It always takes time for youngsters in the team to come together."

Kohli, however, had no doubt that the Aussies would be still be overtly aggressive against the Indians.

"You can't change their mindset, which is aggressive. We know they will try their level best. It will be a well-competed series. We can't take them lightly since they still have good bowlers and batsmen in the side, who can turn the game around."