Australia Cricket / Ed Hawkins / 15 October 2010 /

India take on the Aussies in the early hours of Sunday in Kochi. Both sides have picked reserve teams so who will come out on top? Ed Hawkins is unequivocal

Team news
Keeping up with the ins and outs of India's one-day team can be an exhausting affair. They have shuffled the pack again for the three-match series with Australia and it is impossible not to reckon they have a weak hand.

There is no Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir or Virender Sehwag. Instead they have gone for a curious mix of never-quite-been-good-enough and rising stars.

With the ball, Ashish Nehra and Munaf Patel are tried and tested journeymen, no more. Young batting talent Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have a lot resting on their shoulders. MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh are the game-changers.

Australia have also taken the opportunity to rest key men. Ricky Ponting hands over the captaincy to Michael Clarke, no bad thing considering his decision making in the 2-0 Test series defeat was questionable.

Mitchell Johnson and Shane Watson are absent, too leaving only Doug Bollinger, who made the ODI team of the year, as a name to trust with the ball. IPL talent James Hopes, David Warner and Shaun Marsh bring good local knowledge.

Pitch and conditions
There have been only six ODIs played at the Nehru stadium but from such a small study period we can confidently claim that it stays true to the tradition of cracking batting wickets for limited-overs internationals in the country. The average first-innings score is 271 and three times the side batting first has posted more than 300.

In an ideal world India will bat first and expose Australia's lack of bowlers, giving us the opportunity to back 275 or more on innings runs. Australia won at this venue three years ago, although it was with a vastly more experienced team.

Highest individual score (set at over/under 82.5) and 'century scored' markets could be interesting - there have been five tons scored on the ground.

Match odds
India have shorn themselves of some of their class players. It is something no other side in the world should attempt because they just do not have the resources as back-up. India do, though and for that reason the [2.14] about the hosts taking a 1-0 lead is a crazy price.

Australia, bizarrely, are favourites for this game at [1.86]. They have left out their star men, too, and are likely to be taught a harsh lesson about playing your best XI. Simply, Australia appear to have forgotten to pick any bowlers - a dreadful error particularly for wickets which should favour batsmen.

Raina, Sharma and Kohli are not a patch on Tendulkar, Gambhir and Sehwag but - who is? - they are still fine young players, more than capable of taking apart a weak Australia attack.

Top batsman
Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni, the two most experienced India batsmen, are likely to see plenty of action on the top-bat markets. They are [5.10] and [6.00] respectively, although their averages (Yuvraj 24 and Dhoni 35) do not make great reading. Raina is [6.00], Sharma [6.00] and Vijay [5.00]. There might also be value to be taken advantage of on the 'to score a 50' market.

For Australia, Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey are [5.00] and [6.00]. Hussey looks value indeed given his class at this level.

Recommended bet: back India at [2.14]

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