Mumbai, Feb. 18: Team India coach Gary Kirsten warned New Zealand against being complacent and said India were not taking the Kiwis lightly despite three back-to-back series defeats.

"New Zealand has always been a competitive side. It’s always good to be wary of the them at home. We are not taking them lightly even if it is a young bunch. But they shouldn’t take us lightly as we have done our homework well enough. We will make sure that our boys perform well," said Kirsten here on Wednesday.

Kirsten also felt that the key to winning the series would be to assess the conditions well. "Right now, India are a balanced team and given any condition, we are doing well. We are comfortable with whatever conditions they prepare for us. We just have to focus on our preparations," he said.

India captain M.S. Dhoni his side would not be underdogs in New Zealand despite not having won a Test series there in years.

"We are not underdogs but we just can’t relax. As a team, we don’t think too much about rankings. We just focus on doing well and if we maintain consistency, rankings will take care of themselves" said Dhoni.

He also believed that every international assignment was crucial and that there was no such added pressure, but vowed that the team would give 100 per cent to try and win the series.

Everyone seems to be talking about the Kirsten-Dhoni partnership, which has done wonders since the duo came together. Dhoni felt that the former South Africa player has played a major role in preparing the young lads thoroughly.

"Gary is a great guy and he doesn’t like to get into the limelight. His best part is he doesn’t put pressure on individual players and he helps us to adapt to the condition and from there the players take charge."

Meanwhile, Dhoni was unperturbed about the recent comment by New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori that his team were wary of Sehwag and Dhoni. The India captain said, "I don’t care what others are speaking right now. There are so many good players in our team. Once they start hitting, any ground is small for them."