Champions can never be written off and this is exactly what former Australia opening batter Justin Langer has told Pat Cummins and co ahead of the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, set to begin on November 22 in Perth. India are under a lot of pressure after having lost the home Test series against New Zealand earlier this month. Virat Kohli is also under scrutiny as runs have dried up and the right-handed batter has registered just two Test centuries in the last four years.

It is being expected that the upcoming series against Australia would be Virat Kohli's last tour Down Under. In his last ten innings, Kohli has passed the score of 50 just once. However, Langer expects Kohli to come good in the upcoming five-Test series between India and Australia.

“One thing you never do is write off champions, and that’s in every sport, because they are a champion for a reason,” Langer told 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’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," he added.

'Kohli is a superstar'

Justin Langer also labelled Virat Kohli as a 'superstar'. The 36-year-old has scored more than 1,300 runs in Australia at an average of 54.08 with six centuries.

However, in the recently-concluded series against New Zealand, Kohli averaged 15.50 across three Tests in Bengaluru, Pune and Mumbai. Having lost the series against BlackCaps 3-0, Langer believes that Team India would be like a 'cornered animal'.

“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.

“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," he added.

Speaking further, Langer said, "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.”

India need to win Border-Gavaskar Trophy 4-0 to make it to the World Test Championship (WTC) final for the third time in a row, without depending on other results.

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