Former Australia head coach Justin Langer has backed India to put on a good show in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 after a historic cleansweep at the hands of Kiwis at home. Langer asked people not to write off senior players, especially Virat Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma. He said that the visitors will be under pressure given what's on the line and can't wait to see them in action.
“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," Langer told Western Australian.
“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 Ashwin, so is Jadeja, so is (Jasprit) Bumrah," the former Australian opener added.
Langer has often lauded Kohli. If skipper Rohit misses the first Test in Perth, Kohli's role will be even more crucial. While Jasprit Bumrah will be the bowling spearhead, there is likely to be a toss-up between Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
While Kohli could not score 100 runs in the three-Test series against Tom Latham's New Zealand, he has a good record in Australia. He has six Test centuries from 13 Tests on Australian soil. The 36-year-old averages 54.08 with 1,352 runs from 25 innings. He has four half-centuries to his name as well. He will be chasing several records during the Test series.
Not just Langer, many former Australian cricketers have backed Kohli to do well in the upcoming five-Test series including Mitchell Johnson, Ricky Ponting and others.
Crucial Test series for India regarding WTC final spot
India need a 4-0 win in the Test series to qualify for World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 final. However, even if they lose the series 2-3, they will have a chance to make it to their third consecutive WTC final but they will have to depend on results of other games.
