After dominating South Africa in the home Test series, Australia are all set to tour India for a four-match Test series.
Ahead of the prestigious Border-Gavaskar Trophy, former Australian head coach Justin Langer has acknowledged that India is the hardest country to play Test cricket. However, he feels Australia have a well-balanced squad and the Pat Cummins-led side can beat India in their den to script history.
Notably, Australia have not won a Test series in India since 2004. Prior to that, they won a Test series on Indian soil way back in 1969.
When asked if he regretted not being a part of the touring party, Langer said he has moved on but he is still keen to see Australia conquer the India challenge.
"It's not sadness, I've moved on. I won't be there, but I'll be looking forward to seeing the boys win there. It'd be great if they could. I can't wait to watch it. It's the hardest tour. I look back to 2004 when Australia won for the first time in 35 years, it has a similar feel about it," Langer said while speaking to The Age.
"It was a very balanced and confident team. The current team are winning and I think they're a huge chance to beat India. That was my Mt Everest tour. I always said I wanted to be able to do it again because it was so hard to do.
"Australia have two senior pros at the top. They've got No.3 and No.4, averaging 60 and they're best mates. They're hungry and they play spin well. Travis Head is batting at a different level. He's been inspired by that top four. Cameron Green will hopefully come back in, which gives really good balance. You've got the best fast bowling attack in the world and you've got the best spinner in the world. My gosh, they have an incredibly well-balanced team," he added.
The highly-anticipated Test series between India and Australia is slated to get underway on February 9 in Nagpur. Delhi will host the second Test from February 17 while Dharamshala and Ahmedabad will stage the third and fourth Tests from March 1 and March 9, respectively.
Australia Squad: Pat Cummins (captain), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.
