India’s Betting Odds To Win Test Series Against Australia Plummet
Many bettors took a chance and put money on Team India ahead of the four-match test series in Australia. India were the underdogs before the test series could start, but punters believed India had a great chance to win the test series, especially if they could win the first Test at Adelaide.
Dramatic Adelaide Loss Changes Betting Odds
Punters who had money on India winning the day and night test in Adelaide and the test series would have been real happy going into day 3. India was on top after putting in two good days of test cricket. Day 1 was tough for India, who played real slow cricket, but Day 2 showed that Australia was also struggling.
India took a 50 plus run in the first innings, which was good as having a 100 run lead given Adelaide’s conditions. However, India suffered a dramatic batting collapse to register their lowest test score in their history. Hazelwood and Cummins were the chief destroyers, and Australia had to chase down only 90 runs to win, and they did that comfortably.
The fact that India lost the first Test and ended up being bowled out for 36 runs has switched their betting odds of winning the test series dramatically. The betting odds for Australia winning the test series are now at 1/14 and 22/1 for India.
Betting Odds For Boxing Day Test
Australia goes into the famous boxing day test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) with their tails up as they not only have the confidence of being 1-0 up but will also see David Warner return. Will Pucovski could also be drafted into the side as Matthew Wade did not impress, and even though Joe Burns got a fifty in the second innings, he could make way for Pucovski.
Australia will definitely be a stronger squad and tougher to beat at the MCG. India will be a lot weaker, given that their confidence has taken a beating, and there will be scarring from Adelaide.
They will also be without their captain Virat Kohli who will miss the rest of the test series. Kohli was really unhappy with how India collapsed but will not be able to do much more as he flies back to India to be present with his wife for their first child’s birth.
Mohammed Shami, who bowled really well at Adelaide, will miss the second Test at the MCG and miss the rest of the series after suffering a wrist fracture. Australia favors the MCG test with betting odds of 4/9 while India is the underdogs with 4/1. The odds for a draw at the MCG are 5/1.
What India Must Do To Win
The selectors cannot afford to make any more blunders as they did in the first Test. While the playing XI will get a lot of flak for the embarrassing defeat in Adelaide, the selectors did the team no favours by picking P Shaw and W Saha, who were both out of form as seen in the two-day tour games.
The selectors don’t have a lot of talent to work with for the MCG test as Kohli is going back home, M Shami is out, I Sharma and R Sharma are not available. The playing XI that they should field at the MCG should be in the following order.
S Gill and M Agarwal to open, followed by C Pujara, KL Rahul and A Rahane (captain), R Pant, R Jadeja, R Ashwin, U Yadav, J Bumrah, and N Saini.
Gill should have opened in the first Test, and he must be brought in to replace P Shaw, who was bowled in the same fashion in both innings. KL Rahul must be brought in to take the place of Kohli. Given that KL Rahul has not opened in the tour games, he as to slot in at number 4.
The temptation is there to play H Vihari, but the workload will be too much for the four bowlers, given his limited bowling. R Jadeja can play at 7 and deliver with both ball and bat. R Pant can be a match-winning option and is definitely worth the game over the out of form W Saha.
We would also bring in N Saini over M Siraj as Saini can bowl a bit quicker, which will help the MCG. Both bowlers can be a tad expensive, but because India does not have any other options, Saini gets the nod.
We will have to wait and see what the selectors end up doing!