THE EDGE: The Edge previews the 1st Test between INDIA v ENGLAND with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
India v England 1st Test
MATCH OVERVIEW:
Aside from the Ashes, it doesn’t get much bigger in Test cricket than India v England. We have an excellent five Test match series ahead on Betdaq Betting Exchange! It’s going to be a long tour for England, and while some players always complain about being away from home for so long I have no doubt they will/would extend their time in India for the IPL which will effectively back onto this Test series. This series is going to be fascinating, we have two top class sides and the question is what tactics England will employ in Indian conditions.
We all know and love Bazball by now. At times, it cost them in the Ashes but by the end of that series it was clear that England were the better team they just made too many mistakes early on in the series. It will be interesting to see how they start away from home; they have been slow starters in the past and much has been made of their prep coming into this series. They had a camp in the UAE and that has been criticised as not getting used to Indian conditions. To be honest, these days that is the best prep you’re going to get! Usually sides rock into a Test series off the back of T20 cricket these days!
Harry Brook has had to pull out for personal reasons. That was a big blow – it’s been more than a decade since we saw someone win a Test series in India, so the task couldn’t be any higher. A Test series win for England and Ben Stokes would be a huge achievement. India at home seem to be an unstoppable force though, and I’m sure we can expect difficult batting conditions too. We have a lot of T20 leagues on around the world at the moment, but this series is going to be real cricket. The purest form, two superb sides, plenty of drama waits.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
We kick off the series at Hyderabad. England flew in on Sunday from the UAE, and they should know conditions well here. We see plenty of IPL cricket here and most of the squad will have experience; although we can expect very different batting conditions. Hyderabad actually hasn’t had that much Test cricket – the last Test here was back in 2018. There’s actually only been five Test matches here; four had results and the first ever Test here finished with a draw. I would expect India to have asked for spinning wickets this series to combat Bazball, so I do expect difficult batting conditions.
RECOMMENDED BET:
It’s no surprise to see the draw trading 8.0+ here. I’m happy to completely ignore the draw in the market here and I feel it’s a straight shootout between India and England. As I said above, I would be very surprised if we didn’t see a spinning wicket. India would have asked for it, and England will find conditions very difficult at the start of the tour. I can see them doing better as the series goes on, and growing into the series like they did in the Ashes. I don’t see their prep as a negative, I just feel they won’t handle the spin and again, fascinating to see how attacking they will be in tough conditions. I’m going to keep stakes small to begin, but I’m happy to take the 1.49 on India.
The Edge Says:
One point win India to beat England at 1.49 with Betdaq Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/1IndEng
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
As I said above, I give the draw little chance here so I wouldn’t have any interest in that as a trade. The draw price can offer nice trades at the start of Tests in India, but I expect India will have asked for a spinning wicket. Of course, we have to confirm that is the case early in the Test but I would be surprised if they offered England good batting conditions given their Bazball tactics. India will want the wicket to play as tough as possible. With that in mind, if that is indeed the case, it will pay to support the bowling side for the majority of the time. Batting first may offer an edge, but at the same time the market might not rate 250 as a good score when that could look very good later on in the Test.
