/ Editor / 21 July 2007 /

England take on India in seven one-day internationals, and those betting on the hosts, will want to see a reverse of recent results in the 50-over game.

Those who have bet on the England Test side in recent times have been rewarded and, despite last winter's Ashes humiliation, they currently sit in second place in the world standings and are usually short odds in the five-day game.

However, just the likes of Ireland, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh are likely to be longer odds against a Test-playing nation as only the quartet sit below England in the limited-overs standings.

With new skipper Paul Collingwood in charge, England rewarded punters betting on a home success in the first one-dayer against the West Indies, but lost the subsequent two, despite being short odds to win the series.

Punters will get longer odds on an England win against an Indian side packed full of experienced batting talent.

The Durham man will lead a squad that contains few surprises when the series gets underway at the Rose Bowl on August 21 and India will be favourites in the betting to take the series.

Kevin Pietersen will, once again, be the shortest odds to be England's top run-scorer, while fit-again Andrew Flintoff is a good bet to feature with both bat and ball.

But it is the supporting cast that have to up their levels if betting on England is to reap rewards, and those keen to bet on an England centurion should note that Ian Bell, Alastair Cook, Owais Shah and Matt Prior have yet to reach three figures.

Those betting on England have often been disappointed at the end of a Test series when their heroes, confronted with five or seven one-dayers, have looked tired and bets have been lost.

There is an element of youth in the squad with seamers Chris Tremlett and Stuart Broad both included but the odds of them playing together are slim as James Anderson and Ryan Sidebottom will be a good bet to make the starting XI.

The batting, though, looks weak with popular bets in the top run-scorer market - Michael Vaughan and Andrew Strauss - absent, and Ravi Bopara and Dimitri Mascarenhas attempting to fill the void.

Those betting on England have seen 'bits-and-pieces' players failed spectacularly in recent times and the above pair will be long odds to make an impact with either bat or ball.

Indian punters betting on their heroes suffered a shock at the World Cup when, at short odds to make it to the knock-out phase, they were eliminated after looking a safe bet to beat Bangladesh.

Led by Dravid, they will be a good bet to win the series as they can call on the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni with the bat, while Zaheer Khan will be short odds to be top Indian wicket-taker.

When betting on the total runs in an innings it is important to note that Tendulkar (41) Dravid (12) and Ganguly (22) have 75 one-day centuries between them while England's big three - Collingwood, Pietersen and Flintoff - can muster collectively just 12.

The one thing in the favour of punters betting on England is the fact that some pundits consider that a few of the Indians are past their best.

With the final Test still to play before the coloured clothing is taken out of the coffin, betting on both sides may change but it is the attitude of the England stars that is as important as their ability.

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