India v England - 3rd Test Preview

And to think they couldn’t play spin. England’s utterly dominant win against India leaves this series perfectly posted going into the final two tests, and it also leaves match odds well up in the air for punters. The initial thinking was that the visitors are big at 7/2 but India’s record here (much like their very poor record at the Wankhede the test beforehand) is enough to make one think again. Seven test matches have been staged here in the 2000's and India are unbeaten with five wins and two draws, the most contest at this venue having seen them thrash West Indies by an innings and 15 runs just over 12 months ago with the win set up by a first innings total of 631/7 declared, while they also beat the Proteas here by an innings and 57 runs in February 2010. Taking those stats purely into account, the 13/10 on the hosts looks huge but India’s record over the past year hasn’t been so good and there’s a worry that their traditional strength – batting – has been distorted by a request for rank turning pitches which have exposed a team badly in transition. MS Dohni has once again requested a turning pitch (which will have been used beforehand) so the draw is out of the question as a result (although the large first innings totals here over the years do lend towards it as a trading option) too.

With the pitch as it is, the simple thing might just be to look towards the spinners to dominate once again with very few batsmen in any sort of form. Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar laid the foundation for England’s historic win last time out by taking 19 wickets between them, and while Swann to gain more wickets in the 1^st innings than Ashwin has been highlighted already, it’s worth going back to once again given that Swann has beaten Ashwin in all of their matchups so far. In any case, Swann shouldn’t be 5/4 outsider of the two.

And last but not least, back Praveen Ojha to be India’s leading wicket man in the 1^st innings once again. One of the most hyped young bowlers in the game before this series, Ojha has been superb in all 4 innings and has 14 wickets to Ashwin’s 6, level with Swann at the top of the series wicketboards. At 13/8, it’s a no brainer.

Advice

3 pts Grame Swann to take more 1^st innings wickets than R Ashwin (5/4 Ladbrokes)

2 pts Praveen Ojha to be top Indian 1^st Innings wicket taker (13/8 Coral, Ladbrokes)