Cricket Betting: Australia vs India ODI Series Preview
India are a regular visitor to Australian shores but you will be surprised to know that they haven’t played a bilateral ODI series in Australia. This stat will chance when Australia welcome India for a five match ODI series starting with the first match at the WACA in Perth on 12th January.
The last time these two met was in the high stakes World Cup semi-final which was won easily by the hosts, thanks to a century by Steve Smith. So much has changed since with both the sides planning for the World Cups ahead – especially the T20 World Cup this summer.
Smith is now the captain for Australia and will be hoping the home conditions suit his team more than the tourists. There are some established names in the Australian batting order like David Warner, Aaron Finch and George Bailey which should ease the pressure on Smith. The all-round skills of Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh and James Faulkner will give the home team an edge over the Indians.
The bowling unit wears a complete different outlook with the absence of Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson. Josh Hazlewood is an exciting prospect and will look to lead the attack with Joel Paris and Scott Boland getting their opportunity on the international stage.
The recent form of India in ODIs is less than satisfying. They lost to Bangladesh (away) and South Africa (home) and are looking for a comforting factor from this series. MS Dhoni is under severe pressure to prove that he hasn’t lost his touch – both with the bat and the captaincy hat.
The batting unit bears the same look with Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma forming the core along with Virat Kohli. But, it could be the composed Ajinkya Rahane who may be vital for the visitors in testing conditions. The Indian bowling is very inexperienced, especially with the injury to Mohammed Shami, and they may punt on debutant left-arm quick Barinder Sran to come up good.
Australia versus India is always a contest worth watching, although both sides are looking to experiment for different reasons. Rahane could be important for Dhoni on pitches of different testing conditions. He could be the best batsman for India at odds of $4.50 at William Hill. Smith likes the look and feel of facing India and should be favourite to top the batting charts for Australia at odds of $4.00 at William Hill.
As for the series, India will be tested on bouncy pitches and may find some assistance in Sydney or perhaps Canberra. Back the Aussies to win the series 4-1 at $3.50 at Ladbrokes.
Follow Bet King on Twitter @BetKing_
