The Border/Gavaskar trophy is locked at 1-1 heading into tomorrow’s test. Check out our India v Australia Third Test betting preview!
The third Test is set to begin tomorrow morning in Ranchi
The tale of the tape so far is that the series is tied at one win a piece through the first two games.
Feb 23-27, First Test, Pune – Australia won by 333 runs.
Mar 4-8, Second Test, Bengaluru – India won by 75 runs.
Overall the Australian’s have outplayed the Indians and were favorites to win the second Test during the majority of the match.
The Odds for the Third Test
If the Aussies have outplayed the Indians thus far then why are the Indians such commanding favorites for this Test you may ask…
Well Mitchell Starc the left-arm Australian spearhead has been sent home with an injury and Pat Cummins is likely to take his place in the squad after only playing one Shield game in five years!
Mitch Marsh is also out of the squad through injury which may be seen as a positive to some critics.
It seems likely that Marcus Stoinis will come into his spot at number six in the side given the comments of Trevor Hohns about Stoinis recently.
We’d prefer the Aussies play a specialist batsman at six instead but that’s out of our hands!
There is also the school of thought that the Australian spinners Lyon (Second Test) and O’Keefe (First Test) have already had their big games and bags of wickets.
Not to mention that the Indians record at home over the past few years has been simply outstanding.
They were seen as unbeatable heading into the series and things are back on track after the second test victory.
That being said, there will be plenty making the case for the Aussies at $4.20. Particularly those looking to trade the game in-play.
Basin Reserve few days out NZ v SA. Ranchi few days out India v Australia. Got to love this crazy cricket game pic.twitter.com/YiHQJcdvQ2
— Peter Lalor (@plalor) March 14, 2017
Test Squads For The Third Test
India (for third and fourth Tests): Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandaran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund.
Australia: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Stephen O’Keefe, Matthew Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade
The fourth Test and potential series-deciding match will start on the 25th of March at Dharamsala.
Betting and trading advice
You can almost put a line through the draw at $6 currently.
Appears to be no value, given how the pitch looks, the weather forecast and how dominant the bowling has been from both sides.
The draw should really be about $10 given those factors.
Not to mention with Stoinis likely to play at six for the Aussies they are vulnerable with the bat so if you are banking on them winning it’ll be as a result of a big bowling display and most likely a bag of wickets to O’Keefe or Lyon.
Winning the toss will be crucial and if the Aussies do win the toss then the $4.20 is appealing as it means the middle order won’t have to face the Indian spinners in the final innings.
Conversely, if the $1.65 does hold up after Indian win the toss and bat then we think there is some value in that price as well.
Ashwin and Jadeja seem to grow wings in the fourth innings with the game on the line and even a mediocre total in the bag.
We see the pattern of the series with the team batting first holding the big advantage continuing.
It’s important to note that whoever wins the toss will shorten in the market prior to play starting.
It’s just a matter of how far and how quickly you can grab your price.
We’ll look to establish an early position one way or another by leaving the draw out of our equation and then start to build a green book from there.
Anything over $4 for the Aussies batting first is a good starting point to trade from and if India bat first then anything $1.60+ would be value enough to enter the trade.
Follow us on Twitter @puntingstars for trading advice throughout the Test.
Good luck if you’re having a punt on the Third Test.