The Indian cricket team has “no hope” of making a comeback after the humiliation in Adelaide and will suffer a 4-0 whitewash in the four-match Test series against Australia, feels former batsman Mark Waugh.
India were bundled out for their lowest-ever Test score of 36 in their second innings as Australia claimed an eight-wicket win in the pink-ball Test to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Asked if India could bounce back after losing the first Test, Waugh said: “No hope, no hope.
“I thought Adelaide was the Test that they could win on paper and with Virat Kohli here for just the one Test. I thought the conditions would suit them.
“I just can’t see how they can bounce back (after) Australia whitewashed them on the third day. So ‘’no’’ is the answer – four-nil to Australia,” he said on Fox Cricket.
Even on the last tour, when India beat Australia in a Test series Down Under, Kohli and Co had won at Adelaide. The victory set the tone for the rest of the series for the Indians who triumphed 2-1.
However, Australia were without Steve Smith and David Warner for that series as they served their suspension following the ball-tampering scandal.
In the ongoing series, it’s India who are going to be without their best players as Kohli who is returning home for the birth of his child, injured Mohammed Shami and Rohit Sharma who’s serving his mandatory quarantine in Australia all set to miss the second Test. In the case of Kohli and Shami, they will take no further part in the series.
Australia meanwhile are set to be boosted by the return of Warner who will be fit to play India in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne.
Former Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin too had said the opening day-night Test was India’s best chance in the ongoing series and it will be very difficult for the visitors to script a turnaround.
The second Test begins in Melbourne on December 26.
(With PTI inputs)