Melbourne [Australia], November 17 : Former Australian batter and head coach Justin Langer refuses to treat India as underdogs as they head to Australian soil after a humiliating whitewash loss to New Zealand at home, their first Test series loss in 12 years at home, saying that one "never writes off champions".
After two series wins over the Aussies in the 2018-19 and 2020-21 seasons, India heads Down Under under immense pressure as wounded lions, eager to save their ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final chances from going down to nothing and achieving a hat-trick of series wins in Australia.
Langer was very quick to rubbish the talks that India is heading into the series as underdogs, saying that the weight of expectations from one and half a billion cricket-crazy fans back home has had them under immense pressure and in a fight-back mode. He also said that though fans could write-off the star-studded team as an ageing unit, he personally cannot wait to see them play.
"One thing you never do is write off champions, and that is in every sport, because they are a champion for a reason," Langer was quoted as saying to The West Australian.
"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 will be getting written off for being too old, but people say that all the time, and I just cannot 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," Langer emphasised.
He also urged people to enjoy the greatness of an ageing Australian bowling attack, led by the pace trio of skipper Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and spinner Nathan Lyon, while they still can.
"It is 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," he concluded.
Langer also said that India would be eager to make amends for a rare Test series failure at home.
"India losing to New Zealand is a bit like North Melbourne beating Brisbane in the grand final at the moment," he said.
"And not for one millisecond is that disrespect for New Zealand, because they are the great overachievers; they are brilliant. I think they had won two Test matches (in India), and to win the series 3-0, that is an amazing achievement."
"They have 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.
After the series opener in Perth on November 22, the second Test, featuring the day-night format, will take place under lights at Adelaide Oval from December 6 to 10. Fans will then turn their attention to The Gabba in Brisbane for the third Test from December 14 to 18.
The traditional Boxing Day Test, scheduled from December 26 to 30 at Melbourne's iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, will mark the series' penultimate stage.
The fifth and final Test will be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3 to 7, promising an exciting climax to a highly anticipated series.
India's squad for Border-Gavaskar Series: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar.
Australia squad for the first Test: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc.