England begin their three-match ODI series with India in Nagpur on Thursday, where Richard Mann is putting his faith in the returning Joe Root.
Cricket betting tips: India v England ODI
1pt Joe Root top England batsman at 3/1 (General)
1pt Joe Root to make a fifty at 13/8 (General)
England’s preparations for the Champions Trophy ramp up another gear in Nagpur on Thursday, when they begin a ODI series with India, starting at 8:00am, UK time.
Following a 4-1 defeat in the preceding T20I series, it’s hard to know whether the change in format will afford Jos Buttler’s side a better chance of success, but it will be fascinating to see how they line up and shape up as new white-ball coach Brendon McCullum looks ahead to that upcoming Champions Trophy.
Root return key for England
One big positive for England, who are as big as 7/4 to win the match on Thursday, is the return of JOE ROOT who averages 47.60 in this format, with 16 hundreds and 39 fifties.
Root is by far and away England’s best player in this format, particularly in these conditions where spin is once again sure to play such a huge role. Moreover, Root comes into this series on the back of a fruitful time in the SA20.
Despite playing his home games on arguably the worst pitch in the competition at Paarl, Root averaged 55.80 in his eight matches out in South Africa, striking at a very decent 140.20 in a tournament in which strike-rates have dropped markedly from last year.
On the back of those performances, and England’s poor showing in T20I cricket, there has been lots of chatter about Root returning in the shortest format, which is something the player himself is keen to do, so expect him to be keyed up to do well in these three games.
The further beef up the case, it’s worth noting that Root has three hundreds and three fifties against India from 22 matches in this format, and with so many of his batting colleagues looking devoid of answers against high-class spin, Root is the clear standout.
I’ll be backing Root in the top England batsman market at 3/1, and with the suspicion that we’ll get a good pitch for batting in Nagpur, backing the Yorkshireman to make a fifty at 13/8 also looks good business.
Split stakes on both bets is the advice.
Expect runs in Nagpur
We haven’t seen much international white-ball cricket in Nagpur for a number of years, but generally, this ground tends to produce excellent batting tracks and big runs.
As such, any number of India’s top order could be worth considering in the milestones markets, though backing England runs, whatever the conditions, is clearly fraught with danger at present.
India, on the other hand, clearly have big runs in them, as they demonstrated when cruising to the final of the 50-over World Cup at home in late 2023, posting a series of big scores along the way. But England flopped badly in that tournament, and I’m not sure they look any stronger just over a year on.
Root’s return will at least add some much-needed stability, and getting him on side looks the best strategy at this stage.
Posted at 1045 GMT on 05/02/25
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