After a challenging series in Bangladesh, England head to India for the daunting challenge of a 5 test series against Virat Kohli’s men.

England remain the last team to win a series on Indian soil, with the Indians unbeaten in home series since being spun in a web by Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar in 2012. It will be far tougher this time around however, with England boasting no top-class spinner in their ranks, whilst coming up against perhaps the most feared off-spinner in the game at the moment in Ravichandran Ashwin. It is no surprise then to see the Indians chalked up at 1/7 to win the series, with a binary quote of 81.8-87.5. England are unfancied at 9/1 (5.3-10 on the binary), with the drawn series also pitched at 9s. In the series 25:10 market (with 25 pts awarded for a test victory, 10 for a test draw, and 0 for a test defeat) India are quoted at 89-93, with England chalked up at a fairly derisory 27-31. These prices show the size of the task Alastair Cook and his men have in front of them; touring India remains one of the toughest tours in world cricket.



Alastair Cook, despite now being England’s highest test run-scorer, is once again under the spotlight after a patchy tour of Bangladesh. With yet another new partner at the top of the order in Ben Duckett, Cook struggled to find the authority and calm he oozes when at his best. If England are to trouble the Indians you would think the skipper will have to contribute at least a couple of big scores along the way, as he did so brilliantly in 2012. Cook series runs are currently pitched at 360-380, second only among the tourists to vice-captain Joe Root’s 385-405. Those two are really the standout names in the English batting line-up, with a lack of experience and test pedigree throughout the rest of the top order. It would be something of a surprise were one of these two not to top score for the tourist in the series, which is reflected in Root being the 11/4 favourite and Cook the 3/1 2nd favourite to do so.

The middle order of England will most likely have to deal with the top class spin tandem of Ravi Ashwin and Ravi Jadeja, and so will be up against it right from the start of their innings. As a spinner himself, Moeen Ali may be expected to cope better than most with the certain barrage, which may explain his promotion to number 5 for the Bangladesh tour. Expect Ali to once again fill the number 5 berth, but with a series runs quote of just 270-290 our traders clearly aren’t too optimistic about Ali’s chances of success. One spot down the order comes England’s new talisman, Durham all-rounder Ben Stokes. Stokes has developed into one of the world’s best all-rounders, and whilst his control of reverse swing won plaudits in Bangladesh, it will be his contributions with the bat that England will be more reliant on in India. His series runs are actually pitched 10 higher than Ali at 280-300, but neither of them are particularly fancied to score big on the subcontinent.

Virat Kohli is relatively new to the captaincy, but in home conditions he should hold all the aces in this series. His own batting will of course be one of India’s big weapons, with Kohli firmly established as the darling of the Indian public. With a series runs quote of 430-450, the highest quote given to any player in the series, it is clear Kohli has a lot of expectation on his shoulders. Kohli is chalked up as the 11/4 favourite to top score for India during the series.

With the injury to Rohit Sharma ruling him out of the series, it will be left to the likes of Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara to support their skipper. Rahane and Pujara should slot into the order at 3 and 5 respectively (either side of Kohli), and the three of them pose a serious threat to the English attack. Pujara (series runs quote 405-425), and Rahane (370-390) both have tremendous records in home test matches and it would be no surprise to see some huge partnerships between the two of them and the skipper. For punters expecting a big score or two from this trip their series ton ups are priced up at 68-76 (Kohli), 58-64 (Pujara), and 42-48 (Rahane).

The England bowling attack will certainly have it tough in India. With James Anderson ruled out until at least the second test and possibly beyond, it looks like Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes will lead the seam department. With the pitches unlikely to provide much assistance to the pace bowlers, our traders have pitched Broad bowler performance at 145-155 (10 per wicket, 25pt bonus for a 5 wicket inns), with Woakes slightly lower at 135-145. With the home side expected to prepare spin-friendly wickets, tremendous pressure will be on whichever spinners England select from their squad. Adil Rashid looked awful in Bangladesh, and neither the veteran Gareth Batty or rookie Zafar Ansari showed much that would frighten the Indian batsmen. Moeen Ali had his moments, but whichever combination of these spinners is selected it is tough to imagine Kohli and the boys losing much sleep over it.

On the other hand India’s spinners are probably already giving England’s batsmen nightmares. Even with Gary Balance put out of his misery, the faults against spin remain throughout the England side, and with Ashwin in blistering form it could be more car crash stuff for Bob Willis and co to get stuck into. Our traders certainly expect Ashwin to be a menace, quoting his bowler performance at a gargantuan 375-395. With his batting improved further still, his player performance quote across the 5 tests is 875-925, one of the highest quotes ever seen for a 5 test series!

Ashwin’s partner in spin crime is likely to be Ravi Jadeja, providing a left –arm option for captain Kohli. The series may well come down to how well England can cope with this spin tandem, particularly with DRS being used in India for the first time. With this expected to aid the spin bowlers, Jadeja’s series bowler performance quote of 250-265 may well be of some interest.

As ever we have a range of markets across the series. We have India over England 415-475 in the aggregate 1st inns supremacy market. Perhaps our quote of 3.8-4.1 total stumpings takes your fancy? With England showing signs of a collapse perhaps our quote of 17-18 ducks may be of interest. With more and more markets being added all the time Spreadex is definitely the place for the widest range of markets across both spreads and fixed odds. With the first test starting early on Thursday be sure to get your series bets on before the toss, and check back for our range of special bets both on the series and the 1st test itself throughout the coming days. Let’s hope Cook and his men can put it to the Indians and make it a truly memorable series.