England vs India – Rain a reason why draw the best bet at Lord’s
Published:Many believe that England vs India brings together the best two current sides in world cricket, so it will be a shame that the weather is the deciding factor in the opening Test at Lord’s.
Rain is largely expected in the coming days and therefore 5/6 looks great value in the cricket odds that the first of the four Tests ends as a draw.
Another reason for a draw is that England may struggle regardless to take 20 wickets, given the experience of the majority of the India batting attack on English soil.
However, India’s only three Test defeats under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni have come in the opening matches of a series and they have not had long to acclimatise to English conditions.
Throw in that Sachin Tendulkar has never scored a 100 at Lord’s and Virender Sehwag misses out because of injury, then England are perhaps the most likely to win.
England’s odds are 2/1 to beat India and the big decision they face is whether to pick Stuart Broad or Tim Bresnan in the final bowling position.
The extra bounce provided by Broad may prove valuable considering the problems that India’s batsmen experienced in the West Indies, although the more consistent line and length bowled by Bresnan may earn him the nod.
India are 4/1 to win at Lord’s and a victory would certainly damage England’s hopes of moving to the head of the Test rankings.
The experience of India’s batting line-up has already been mentioned, while they also have the best left-arm seamer in world cricket in their ranks with Zaheer Khan, who is liable to cause problems for England captain Andrew Strauss outside off stump.
Meanwhile, Ishant Sharma proved his worth with the ball in the West Indies on a variety of pitches and could be another bowler to be among the wickets.
