Australia coach Justin Langer says he's building 'battle-hardened' squad for 2022 India tour

Melbourne: Australia coach Justin Langer said they are working towards building a battle-hardened and matured squad which will tour India for a Test series in 2022.

File image of Australia coach Justin Langer. Reuters

Langer, who took over as Australia coach in May 2018 soon after the ball-tampering episode in South Africa, has closely observed India dominating at home in the longest format with a goal in mind — to have a squad mature enough to combat the World No 1 Test team.

Kohli's men registered a record-breaking 11th home series win on the trot when they defeated South Africa last month at home. "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," he said.

Langer had spoken about the ultimate goal of defeating India in India when he was appointed as Australia coach. "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," he had said.

Since the 48-year-old has taken over, Australia has had an inconsistent run. They lost a home series to India before defeating Sri Lanka but only scarcely managed to retain the Ashes.

"I think it was an indication of the maturity of our team. 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," he said.

"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 up side. 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," he added.