India and Australia’s four-Test series has been pulsating and with a long break between now and third Test, it gives us a chance to catch our breath and see where the tied 1-1 contest goes from here. And also to hunt out for value. It is certainly surprising that matters have been so close so far. India have been unbeatable at home in recent years but they are being taken to the brink by an Australia team who have performed out of their skins.
They took the lead in the series with victory in Pune. And barely had we time to work out how that happened they were in the ascendancy in Bangalore. India, however, roared back. We feared for Australia before the series because there was no evidence they could play spin. Oddly, two Tests in with one of them a win, there is still no evidence.
That rather suggests that there is still value to be had in India’s price of 1.67 (Coral). Australia are 5.5 with Bet365 and Paddy Power and they will be eyeing the venue for the final Test (Dharamsala) with trepidation. It’s a raging turner. But India have been bizarre so far. Their batsmen have recorded totals of 105, 107, 189 and 274 which is one of the lowest cumulative runs totals for two home Tests ever. We are at a loss to understand why that should be.
Perhaps it is purely down to the poor form of Virat Kohli, who has managed only 40 runs. Will he roar back as well? We are extremely tempted by Ladbrokes’ 9 that he finishes top India runscorer. He is trailing KL Rahul (215) and it has to be said that it is a whopping lead. But if anyone can do it, Kohli can. And we would far rather bet him at those odds instead of the measly pre-series prices on offer to finish No 1.
One bet we do have a soft spot for is on the India top bowler market. Just the three wickets separate Ravi Ashwin and Ravi Jadeja. But the layers think that’s a gulf that Jadeja won’t be able to breach. Ashwin is as short as 1.36 with Betfred and Ladbrokes and no better than 1.4 with Stan James and other green listed bookmakers.
So does that make Jadeja worth a nibble at 3.25 with all three firms? Yes it does. Granted we are not trying to make out that Jadeja is a vastly superior bowler to Ashwin but the gap is not that big and he is always hot on the heels of his spin twin.
Indeed, according to the ICC there is no difference between the two. Jadeja and Ashwin are joint top of the bowler rankings at the moment. Jadeja took seven wickets in Bangalore and Ashwin eight.
We have also found an edge that justifies the wager. Jadeja is actually taking wickets more regularly than Ashwin, so he just needs to get a few more overs under his belt. His strike rate is a wicket every 43.3 balls in the series while Ashwin is taking one every 49.8 balls.
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