After a largely mundane Test series, India and Sri Lanka embark on a three match ODI series which begins on Sunday. These two sides are regular foes in this format of the game so there should be no surprises which will hopefully make the games more competitive than the Tests.
Schedule
1st ODI: Dec 10 at Dharamsala
2nd ODI: Dec 13 at Mohali
3rd ODI: Dec 17 at Visakhapatnam
India
The Indians will be looking to preserve a pretty decent record that they have built up in this format of the game and with some T20s to follow this series they can get into a groove in the limited overs stuff and you would expect them to really enjoy each game. The three venues for this ODI series are all good places too which will help.
Although they have records to protect and things like that there is no doubt their real focus is elsewhere from here on in. That is on South Africa and the tour that is to come and as a result Virat Kohli has been stood down for this series so we will see how India function without him and it will be interesting to see.
Sri Lanka
We might have to wait until the T20s to see Sri Lanka at their most competitive on this tour but there is no doubt they should be closer to the Indians in this series than they were in the longer format of the game. With the series being just a three match one Sri Lanka won’t need to hold their form for as long which might help.
It could be that a couple of individual performances come at the right time and before you know it Sri Lanka have their hands on the series but if they are going to be competitive and push for the win they will need to bowl well and get stuck into this Indian batting line up early. Their own batting line up doesn’t look too bad.
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Betting
I’m not really interested in betting on the series outcome for a couple of reasons. India have shown by resting Kohli that this isn’t their primary focus and then we are likely to have the dew factor in play as we go along so the series isn’t for me. I will play a couple of series batsman markets though.
In the Indian market I wonder if the 14/1 on Hardik Pandya is a little too big. India have pushed him up the order quite regularly in recent times and with no Kohli in this series there is certainly a gap to be filled at the top of the order. If he can go in early enough and nail a couple of cameos he might put up enough runs to land the spoils.
Angelo Mathews made a ton in the final Test which was encouraging and as one of the best ODI batsmen around the 4/1 on him top scoring for Sri Lanka in the series is a price which interests me too. Some of his fellow batsmen can be vulnerable but he is all class and having experienced these conditions plenty of times he looks a good punt to top score.
Tips
Back H.Pandya Top India Series Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 15.00 with William Hill
WON – Back A.Mathews Top Sri Lanka Series Batsman for a 2/10 stake at 5.00 with William Hill
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