STAR PREVIEW: England v India (Series Preview)

An English summer. A heatwave that lasted for weeks followed by torrential rain, political chaos, and now cricket. England face India in the first of a five-test series and fans of the longer format could be treated to a very exciting series.

The mood around England had improved a bit following a strong summer when they dismissed a below-strength Australia side in ODI’s and then the travelling India side in the shorter format. Test cricket, however, has not been so good to them and this upcoming series promises to be more difficult.

England’s last test series was a tale of two performances – and very much sums up their time under Trevor Bayliss. Pakistan turned up to Lord’s and dominated them from start to finish before they inflicted a hefty reverse on them at Leeds, and it was not the first time that performances have varied early in a series.

The problems have not changed for them. A lack of runs for Alistair Cook, with no partner in sight (Keaton Jennings gets another chance again); the exposure of the middle order to the new ball; A lack of centuries for Joe Root (not that he’s out of touch); The expensiveness of Moeen Ali and a lot more dropped catches.

There was also the additional issue of an extremely hot English summer tilting the balance in favour of spin, although that does not look to be an issue for Edgbaston tomorrow as the groundstaff have been spraying the pitch with as many as 47,000 litres of water on to the outfield in 36-minute bursts whilst the hot spell did break recently.

India were dismissed the last time they came here in 2014 but the gap between the two sides has closed and they arrive here as the No.1 test side in the world. They also had excellent practice in the shape of a three-test series in South Africa, when they managed to put it up against a South African side that has tremendous similarities with England.

In a low scoring series their batting lineup stood up well to the fast bowling might of Kagiso Rabada, Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel and Lungi Ngidi with Virat Kohli was the top scorer in the series whilst Murali Vijay helped atone for the failures of some other top order members.

Their bowling was also impressive too, with Mohammed Shami taking 15 wickets and Jasper Bumrah taking 14, matching the South African bowlers’ pound for pound. The worry for them is that Kohli fails to make his mark here – he was dominated by James Anderson in 2014.

Spin has dominated the lead upto this series with England choosing Adil Rashid despite him eschewing white ball cricket whilst a hot and dry summer should help India. In the shape of Ravi Ashwin and Ravi Jadeja, they have the superior spinners and will be hoping for cracking pitches.

England’s home advantage makes them favourites, but they are not a value option at 4/5 with starsports.bet given their recently declining home form. From 2010 to 2013 they won 17 out of their 26 home Tests, while losing only three – since 2014, England have lost 10 out of 30 home Tests with four of those losses having come in the last 10 games.

In their last eight series, England have lost at least one test and that includes series wins last summer against South Africa and the West Indies. The 3-1 (13/2 with starsports.bet) and 3-2 (10/1 with starsports.bet) could become value with draws looking unlikely as bowlers have the upper hand.

Spin is expected to dominate which could make some value in the bowling markets. The absence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah in the first part of the series sees spinners fancied to take most wickets for India but Mohammed Shami (6/1 with starsports.bet) could be value. The seamer took 15 wickets against South Africa and can make a good start at Edgbaston with his rivals injured.

For the Indian batsmen, Virat Kohli is short and a better batsman than he was four years ago, but Murali Vijay (5/1 to top score with starsports.bet) is the value. He was India’s best batsman here in 2014, scoring 402 runs at an average of 40.20, and can go well again.

For the hosts, Joe Root is a short-priced favourite to score the most runs, which is understandable over a five-match series. He scored more than 100 runs more than any other batsman against South Africa last summer.

RECOMMENDED BETS (scale of 1-100 points)
BACK ENGLAND 3-1 5 points at 13/2 with starsports.bet
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BACK MOHAMMED SHAMI Top India Bowler 5 points at 6/1 with starsports.bet
BACK MURALI VIJAU Top India Batsman 5 points at 5/1 with starsports.bet
BACK JOE ROOT Top England Batsman 10 points at 7/4 with starsports.bet

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