Sydney: Steve Smith and his band of Aussies should avoid getting into a sledging war with India captain Virat Kohli according to former Australian batsman Michael Hussey.

Kohli has been in dominant form since taking over as Test team captain from MS Dhoni who took the shocking decision of stepping down after the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne in 2014.

And it was then that the Aussies targeted Kohli who gave it back to those with whom he had sparred during his innings of 169.

Earlier in that series, Kohli had clashed with Steve Smith, who is now his rival skipper, and paid the price with a fine of 30 per cent of his match fee. The pair were at it again during last summer’s T20 series, when Kohli gave the Australian skipper a send-off when he was dismissed after the latter was a temporary on-field commentator, a gesture that Smith was not very pleased with.

But Hussey, who has the best average of any Australian batsman to have played five Tests or more in Asia, has urged Smith and his team not to risk riling Kohli during the four-match tour of India later this month.

"I wouldn't try and fire him up," Hussey told cricket.com.au recently. "I think he thrives on that and he's a real competitor.  He loves being in the fight and loves the contest out in the middle. I'd make sure we have some very clear plans and we try and stick to them as best as we possibly can.”