WATCH: Virat Kohli reveals why Team India is not looking for 'revenge' against New Zealand for World Cup exit

Team India skipper Virat Kohli has expressed his thoughts on how his side won't be looking for any sort of revenge over New Zealand during Friday's opener in Auckland.

This will be the first time that the 'Men In Blue' will be facing the Kiwis since the two teams' encounter in the semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, back in August.

It was a very emotional match for millions of fans, as The Black Caps ended up knocking out India from the tournament to secure a place in the final.

However, during the pre-match press conference of the series opener, Kohli said that it is quite impossible to be in any revenge mood simply because of how nice the New Zealanders are in person.

“Even if you want to think of revenge, these guys are so nice you cannot get into that zone," Kohli told reporters on the eve of the first T20I.

"We get along really well with these guys and it's all about being competitive on the field. As I said in England, they are probably one side that has set an example for teams to play international cricket."

"They obviously want to bring out the best they can in every ball and every game, they are intense in their body language, they are not nasty, they are not doing things which are not acceptable on the field,” he added.

Auckland's Eden Park is set to host the first T20 International between India and New Zealand on Friday (January 24) of the five-match series.

Speaking on the topic of playing away from home, Kohli claimed: “They will have a slight home advantage but we have played a lot here in the past seasons."

"Every series is a fresh start and New Zealand in New Zealand is obviously a bigger challenge than playing them back in India. So, we definitely have to be at our best game," he added.

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Can't help but Love the Kiwis  #TeamIndia #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/9Qc3k35v5L

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 23, 2020

The Indian skipper also confirmed KL Rahul's role in the national side and lauded the Karnataka cricketer's versatility.

“In the one-dayers we will have to think of sticking to what we did in Rajkot (making KL Rahul bat in the middle order),” Kohli said.

“I think that would work best for us as a side – have another guy at the top and let KL express himself in the middle order. In T20 cricket, the dynamics change a little more. We do have more lower order batsmen who have done well, we have more options for those spots, so KL can probably bat at the top.”

India's T20I squad: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma (vice-capt), Sanju Samson, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur.