Ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting in Perth on November 22, former Australian cricketer and head coach Justin Langer cautioned against underestimating the Indian team, saying one should never write off champions. India has won its previous two Test tours of Australia by identical 2-1 margins, but heads into the upcoming marquee series on the back of a 3-0 home series defeat at the hands of New Zealand earlier this month. “One thing you never do is write off champions, and that’s in every sport, because they are a champion for a reason. In India, there are one and a half billion cricket-loving people, and then count all the rest around the world, they expect nothing but excellence, and the team will be under intense pressure, so how they fight back will be important.
“And they’ll be getting written off for being too old, but people say that all the time, and I just can’t wait to see them play. I just hope, if this is the last time (Kohli) is out here, people enjoy it because he is a superstar, so is Rohit Sharma, so is (Ravi) Ashwin, so is (Ravi) Jadeja, so is (Jasprit) Bumrah.
“It’s the same with the Australians; the bowling attack is a very senior attack now… so really enjoy it while you can; they are not going to be around forever,” said Langer to The West Australian on Sunday.
India has to win at least four games on their Test tour of Australia if they are to enter next year’s World Test Championship final at Lord’s. Langer thinks that India, in their bid to recover from their defeat to New Zealand, could well turn out to be a dangerous opponent for Australia, who have landed in Perth on Sunday to prepare for the first Test.
“India losing to New Zealand is a bit like North Melbourne beating Brisbane in the grand final at the moment. And not for one millisecond is that disrespect for New Zealand, because they are the great overachievers; they are brilliant.
“I think they’d won two Test matches (in India), and to win the series 3-0, that’s an amazing achievement. They’ve just been beaten three-nil by New Zealand, so India will be humbled by that and equally determined to remedy it because the pressure on them will be intense,” he concluded.
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