'I'd be very surprised if Australia win even one. Without rain, it'll be 4-0 to India': Doull's prediction

Predicting a 4-0 result in India's favour, Simon Doull said he would be very surprised if Australia wins even one of the remaining three Tests in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

India's daunting innings and a 132-run victory over Australia in the first Test in Nagpur has already given rise to clean sweep predictions. The balance anyway was tilted in India's favour before the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but after India's performance and Australia's mere surrender, especially with the bat, it does appear to be one-way traffic at the moment. Australia batted just over three sessions in the entire first Test in Nagpur. And this, after they won the toss and opted to bat first. While the pitch did offer turn and bounce in the second innings, for the first two days there were no real demons. The same was proven when India scored 400 in their first innings riding on Rohit Sharma's century and fifties from Ravindra Jadeja (70) and Axar Patel (84).

India's Virat Kohli (L) runs past Australia's David Warner during the third day of the first Test cricket match between India and Australia at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium in Nagpur on February 11, 2023. (Photo by Indranil MUKHERJEE / AFP) / IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE (AFP)

With the action now shifting to the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, another venue known to produce slow turners, the big question is can Australia stage a comeback? They don't need to look too far for inspiration. India had done the same after being bowled out for 36 in the first Test in Adelaide a couple of years ago to bounce back and win the series 2-1. Does this Australian team have it in them to pull off something similar? Former New Zealand pacer and now a renowned broadcaster, Simon Doull certainly doesn't think so.

Doull said he would be surprised if Australia wins even one of the remaining three Tests in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

"If Australia get one Test, I'd be very surprised. Without rain interning, I can see a 4-0 (in India's favour). If Australia have a day out with the ball or if Smith and Labuschagne have a Test match to remember with the bat, they might steal a Test but I don't see anything other than a 3-1 or 4-0 to India," he told Sports Yaari.

Australia have drafted in left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann to their squad but it would be interesting to see if he gets a game considering that debutant Todd Murphy was the most impressive Australian bowler in the series opener. Travis Head, who was surprisingly dropped from the first Test, is likely to return to the XI.

There was a lot of talk around the pitch for the first Test. That hasn't been the case so far before the second Test. Doull said, taking home advantage is nothing new and he has no problems if the ball starts to turn from Day 1 of a Test match.

"Most people that post something about certain nature of surfaces in India or any around the subcontinent, are looking for clickbait, they are just looking to jump on board and gain followers. You can't tell me that the surfaces we have seen in Australia recently have not been home-friendly. As long as the pitch is not substandard, I have no issues with it. If it seems for two days, no problem. If it spins in the first hour, I don't have an issue with it. I don't think players now play good-quality spin as well as the Laras, the Dravids, the Tendulkars, the Laxmans. Even the current Indian players don't play spin as they used to. They probably play a little bit better than most countries at the moment and therefore they are able to succeed in their home conditions. But I'll never complain about a surface, be it a green one, a brown one or whatever," he added.