'Never easy to play SL at their home'

Top-ranked India will not take Sri Lanka lightly despite the home team's recent indifferent form as well as controversies over fitness and ethics, captain Virat Kohli said Thursday.

Sri Lanka, languishing at the seventh position in Test rankings, survived a scare this week to win a one-off Test against Zimbabwe but not before going down to the minnows in the preceding one-day series.

They have also been criticised in recent days by the country's sports minister for being overweight and unfit.

Kohli, the firebrand Indian skipper, nevertheless said he respected the opposition and would not take them for granted.

"It is never easy playing Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka," Kohli said after the team arrived in Colombo for their first full series against their South Asian neighbour in eight years.

The sides will play three Tests, five one-day internationals and one T20 in what is their first series involving all three formats of the game since 2009.