Will consider ourselves as a great cricket team if we beat India in India, proclaims Justin Langer

Will consider ourselves as a great cricket team if we beat India in India, proclaims Justin Langer

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Australia head coach Justin Langer has selected the 2021 Australia tour of India as the measuring stick of his coaching career as he stressed that the players should be battle hardened for the tour. Langer went on to hail Will Pucovski’s batting as perfect for Test cricket as he has the temperament.

As Justin Langer selected the side for the home season opener against Bangladesh, he has his eyes set on a way higher goal, that of knocking India down in their backyard. Langer is looking to build a team strong and mature enough to topple the men in blue, the toughest job at the moment in test cricket as they have a winning streak of 11 series at home as of now.

Although it sounds far fetched now, the 2021 Australia tour of India has been Langer’s dream ever since he took over the role Australia's head coach back in May 2018. 

"If I fast forward it, the Indian tour against India, the Test tour in three or four years' time, to me that's the ultimate. We will judge ourselves as a great cricket team if we beat India in India," were the head coach’s first words as he took over the role.

Nothing has changed in the course of eighteen months, as Langer is adamant that the series will be the truest measure of Australia’s growth under his guidance. He is not really wrong in valuing the series highly given India’s home record lately and the narrow defeat to India at home in 2017 is surely a ray of hope for him.

"It reminds me of how hard it is, that's for sure," Langer told ESPNcricinfo. "It's always been the case that it's been hard to win in India. But that's the expectation and we've got a couple of years now to find that maturity I'm talking about, to be nice and battle-hardened and as ready as possible for that series."

Langer who has had an impressive with Australia side with the Dubai escape against Pakistan, a commanding win over India in Perth, a thrashing of Sri Lanka and the retention of the Ashes via outstanding displays in Birmingham and Manchester in his merit list. But the success hasn't been consistent and that's what Langer is vying to achieve with the Tim Paine led side.

"I think it was an indication of the maturity of our team," Langer said. "I don't mean maturity in age but coming together as a group, it takes great skill but it takes time, great mental toughness and endurance, to be able to back it up over and over again. On one hand, it is a really good thing we've got lots of growth for this Test team and this group of players, that's the upside. When you're going through it you'd love to see more of that consistency, but I look at it from a bigger picture point of view, it means we've got areas we can keep getting better in."

Langer had a word of praise for Victoria batter Will Pucovski who sidelined himself from Test selection over mental health grounds as he called him “an impressive young fella.” The Aussie head coach went on to point out the youngster's temperament as he hailed his batting style perfect for Test cricket.

"He just seemed to have so much time. Also his ability to… he batted a session for probably 20 runs I reckon. In the modern world we live in, people might see that as a negative, but I thought it was just brilliant. He absorbed great pressure for two hours and looked unflustered. He seems to have a really good temperament, if they bowl good balls he's got a defensive answer for it; if they bowl anything loose he seems to be able to pounce on that. That's a pretty good formula for a good young player," Langer said.

"We'll only know through experience, but he'll keep learning. All these young guys are on this incredible journey, which I've lived through and know how frustrating it can be, how daunting it can be. But they've all got their different struggles and Will's an example of that. He's had his struggles and what's most impressive about him is through it all he seems to be able to consistently score runs and he also has a smile on his face and seems to get on with it. He's an impressive young fella."

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