"The whole of Australia will be waiting and reminding them about this every single minute"- Simon Doull on India's home series whitewash against NZ
Former New Zealand pacer Simon Doull believes the Australian players and the fans would constantly remind Team India about their home Test series whitewash against New Zealand during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Rohit Sharma's Men suffered a 0-3 defeat at the hands of the Black Caps, their first-ever home whitewash in a Test series with three or more games.
It was also India's first home Test series loss in over a decade, with the previous defeat coming against England in 2012-13. Since then, Team India won 18 consecutive home series in Tests before the New Zealand debacle.
The Asian side has less than three weeks to recover and bounce back for their five-Test tour Down Under, starting November 22.
Speaking to JioCinema, Doull warned India about the challenge that awaits them in Australia.
"Yes, India has certainly won the last two series that India has played in Australia, so that's a good part. But then when you go on the back of a three nil whitewash to Australia, I'm sure the whole of Australia will be waiting and reminding them about this every single minute, every single moment that they step into Australia," Doull said.
He added:
"Four wins, one draw is what they needed. And a lot of tough questions to be answered for Rohit Sharma and his men. It will require a lot of strength of character to bounce back from this. I mean it's the same set of players who are traveling to Australia and it's never easy going to Australia."
India can take confidence from winning their previous four bilateral Test series against Australia, including two Down Under in 2018-19 and 2020-21.
However, with the New Zealand whitewash, they will have to win by at least a 4-0 margin in Australia to control their World Test Championship (WTC) final qualification destiny.
"What's happened now is they've let opposition spinners in" - Simon Doull
Simon Doull felt India's success at home was built around preparing true batting surfaces for their batters to prosper and their spinners to outshine the opposition's tweakers. He added that the opposition spinners can match the Indian spinners on rank turners, while the Indian batters are all at sea against the turning ball.
"What's happened now is they've let opposition spinners in, and with all due respect, Tom Hartley and Mitchell Santner are guys that you would not say would come here and be high-quality Test match bowlers. The reason India have had success at home predominantly is because in conditions that are decent for batting, they've had the two best spinners in the world. And the numbers do not lie around Jadeja and Ashwin," said Doull in the same interview.
He continued:
"And it doesn't have to be a turning pitch for them to have success. If it's got for a little bit, they will find it. And that's why I think India have been so successful. They produce surfaces that their batters can get runs on, but their spinners have been so much better. And the numbers around those spinners far outweigh most other spinners worldwide. So to me, all of India's success was around just good pitches, really good pitches. Allow your batters to get the runs and our spinners will be better than yours."
India have lost five out of their last 12 home Tests, dating back to the third Test of the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.