India Australia ODI series preview

I’m desperately trying to summon up some enthusiasm for this ODI series. It’s not easy. So many of the big names being rested for this series and it’s almost certainly going to be an anti-climax after the excitement of the Border/Gavaskar Trophy.

Anyway,

• Australia will be captained by Michael Clarke in the absence of Ponting. This will be a big test for him. It isn’t going to be easy given Australia’s lack of spin options. Relying solely on seamers in limited overs is high risk.
• The other issue is Clarke’s own form which is a worry to him and the side. Will the captaincy be a distraction that further harms his own form?
• Due to the monumentally shite weather in Kochi over the last few days, they haven’t been able to practice and the pitch will almost certainly be under prepared.
• It will be good to see Callum Ferguson in action, he injured himself in the CLT20 so it will be interesting to see him in action and whether he’s a serious contender for an Ashes spot.
• Apparently, it’s 34 degrees and dry today so the game should go ahead.

This is the probable India side

India (probable): 1 M Vijay, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Virat Kohli/Rohit Sharma, 6 MS Dhoni (capt and wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Ashish Nehra, 11 Munaf Patel.

• I’ll hold my hands up and admit to not having heard of Shikhar Dhawan who is making his debut.

• I’d have thought that MS Dhoni deserves a rest. The man is cattled trucked, his hands are a mess and the Indians should be trying someone else out. Succession planning and all that.

This is the probable Aus side

Australia 1 David Warner, 2 Tim Paine (wk), 3 Michael Clarke (capt), 4 Shaun Marsh/Callum Ferguson, 5 Michael Hussey, 6 Cameron White, 7 Steve Smith, 8 James Hopes, 9 Nathan Hauritz, 10 Clint McKay, 11 Doug Bollinger/Mitchell Starc.

• Question marks over whether Baby Bolli has recovered from his injury and whether it’s Ferguson or Marsh but to me that looks a weak Aussie side particularly on the bowling front.

• I’m looking forward to seeing Warner play, the last time I saw him was in a pink shirt for Middlesex, where it’s safe to say he didn’t set the campaign alight.

All 3 matches will be covered live on http://www.testmatchsofa.com and I’ll be there on for both Sunday games. You can listen to coverage through the player on the top right of this page.

Lizzy’s tips:

• I like the look of the most sixes bet – looking at the line ups – it’s hard to see where India’s sixes might come from so I’d stick on Aus to win that one.
• And at time of writing MS Dhoni’s performance points line is under or over 38.5. I’d go over that. Remember that you get points for catches, runs, stumpings so it wouldn’t take that much for him to reach that.
• Betting sites have Australia as slight favourites. I suspect they know what they are doing but the odds aren’t great. Currently Aus 1.78 and India 2.12. I’ve stuck a fiver on Aus

Please bare in mind that I’m not that good at betting when thinking about your own bets,.