The most anticipated Test series of the winter gets underway in the early hours of Thursday morning in the UK when Australia take on India in a four match series which should be full of quality but with a strong competitive edge to it.
India won the series the last time they were in Australia so they are not going to lack for belief here. That loss will have put plenty of fire into the bellies of the Australians so we should be set for something of an epic contest.
Schedule
1st Test: 17-21 Dec at Adelaide (day’night)
2nd Test: 26-30 Dec at Melbourne
3rd Test: 7-11 Jan at Sydney
4th Test: 15-19 Jan at Brisbane
Australia
Australia are the number one Test side in the world and they have got to that point in the rankings by avoiding defeat in their last four series. Indeed the last team to beat them in a series was India two years ago when Australia will be quick to point out that there was no David Warner or Steve Smith in that series. The former will not be around for the first game of this series either so it will be interesting to see if that opens a door for the tourists.
The main reason why Australia are so good in Test cricket has been the quality of their bowling attack. It isn’t just the bowling stock that is picked in the side but like all good teams they have a real depth of options both in the seam department and the spin one. The other thing they have is a very solid batting line up which has an all-rounder to balance the team nicely. This will be their acid test but you get the feeling that they are good enough to overcome the challenge.
India
India actually lost their last Test series which was in New Zealand earlier in the year. That ended a run of five successive Test series wins which was a run which had taken them up to the number one ranking in the longest format of the game. Their strength has lied very much in their batting over the last few years and that is no surprise when you think they have the best batsman in the modern game in their ranks. That is Virat Kohli but he’s only around for one match before heading home for the birth of his child.
You don’t get to the number one ranking in the Test game if you don’t have a bowling attack for all conditions and it will be up to that unit to prove their worth in this series because there is no chance of them winning this series if they don’t turn up with their best form. If they can keep the Australian batsmen honest then they have the line up that can really put the home side under pressure. You get the feeling if India are going to win the series they have to win this opening match.
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Team News
Australia are keeping their cards close to their chest but it looks like Matthew Wade is going to open with Joe Burns in the absence of David Warner. Cameron Green is set to be given his Test debut but there is no place for James Pattinson.
India have already named their side and have confirmed that Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal will be their opening batsmen with Wriddhiman Saha as the wicket keeper. Umesh Yadav edged out Navdeep Saini for the third seamer position.
Series Betting
I like one bet for the series and that is Marnus Labuschagne to be the top Australia batsman. In an ideal world I’d have taken someone in the India line up but I’ve a feeling their top five could change frequently throughout the series. We already know that Virat Kohli is going home after the first game but the two openers and the wicket keeper position don’t look set in stone to me. Ultimately there isn’t really a price that gets me in so I’ll stick with Labuschagne.
He is an absolute run machine and already this summer he has a couple of tons for Queensland and he made 70 against this Indian attack in an ODI. Often it is hard to choose between him and Steve Smith for this market but the fact that Labuschagne bats above Smith tilts it in his favour. They are both full of runs but with the cricket that is to be played if Australia wrap the series up early Smith could be rested whereas Labuschagne is less likely to be. Both will score runs but at 3/1 I’ll take Labuschagne.
1st Test Betting
I’ll go with one for the first Test match as well as I ease my way into the series. That comes in the form of a performance line for Tim Paine where I think the 87.5 is a little on the low side. I’m expecting all four innings in this match to be relatively similar so the Australia captain should get plenty of chances to score runs over the course of the match and he already has a ton under his belt for Tasmania this season.
I also expect the Australia quicks to catch the edge of a number of batsmen as the ball does a bit under lights so the gloves are likely to come into play for the Aussie skipper as well. If we were to say he averages 20 runs an innings he would need five catches to cover this line. In the three Tests he has played here he has registered six, four and six catches so that doesn’t look to be beyond him at all. If he bats well in one innings he won’t even need that many catches so I’ll take the over here.
Tips
WON – Back M.Labuschagne Top Australia Series Batsman for a 2/10 stake at 4.00 with Bet365
WON – Back T.Paine’s 1st Test Performance – Over 87.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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