England's T20 side are back in action on Thursday, kicking off a three-match series against India in Southampton – Richard Mann has bets ranging from 14/1 to 5/1 in his staking plan.
Cricket tips: T20I England v India
2pts England to win the series 3-0 at 5/1 (Sky Bet)
1pt Jos Buttler to be Man of the Match in the first T20I at 8/1 (Unibet)
1pt Dawid Malan to be Man of the Match in the first T20I at 14/1 (Paddy Power, Betfair)
England tread new ground in Southampton on Thursday as they kick off their three-match T20I series against India, with Eoin Morgan no longer at the helm following his recent decision to retire from international cricket.
Morgan's long-time understudy, Jos Buttler, will now take full control of the white-ball teams and I'm not expecting a great deal to change. England should remain top of the tree in limited-overs cricket.
Buttler was an integral part of the greatly-successful Morgan era and has been at pains to state how his reign will be about building on what Morgan has achieved, certainly not looking to rip up the pages of the book and start again.
With that in mind, I expect England to prove too strong for an India side still reeling from their poor showing at last year's T20 World Cup and with more questions than answers in this format at present.
While England showed up really well in the UAE, only narrowly losing out in a thrilling semi-final against New Zealand, India never recovered from a crushing early loss to Pakistan as their once-revered batting struggled to keep pace with the demands of the modern T20 game and the bowling for once looked vulnerable in the face of top-class batting.
England have lost 3-2 to the West Indies since, but they fielded under-strength starting XIs throughout that series and will be close to full strength in the coming three matches, with Morgan's retirement likely to strengthen the batting given there is so much power now vying for one of the coveted middle-order spots.
One area of concern for England is death bowling, and Jofra Archer's continued absence through injury is a great shame for the game in general, but I've been really impressed with Reece Topley since his return to international cricket, while Chris Jordan has been back to something like his best in the T20 Blast recently and Tymal Mills has a wealth of experience to call upon.
T20 Blast quarter-finals preview and tips
That's not to say this England attack is faultless by any means, and Adil Rashid will be a big miss in this series, but the absence of KL Rahul is an even bigger blow to an Indian batting line-up still trying to stumble upon the right formula and tempo for the shortest format.
Rohit Sharma is fit again and expected to lead the side, but he was unusually poor in the IPL and might just need some game-time to get back to up to speed.
There is plenty of talent in the India batting order, but not the brutal power that the likes of Liam Livingstone, Jason Roy and Buttler offer England, and ultimately, the superior batting the hosts possess within their ranks should prove to be deciding factor in this series.
Sky Bet go 5/1 about England winning the series 3-0 and that appears perfectly acceptable.
With Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant unavailable for Thursday's series opener, India could be particularly vulnerable in Southampton, meaning a play in the Man of the Match market is an absolute must.
Having finished the IPL as the competition's leading runscorer, and then made hay against the Netherlands recently, new captain JOS BUTTLER looks the obvious starting point.
Buttler's last four innings in T20Is have seen him post scores 71*, 101*, 26 and 29, and crucially, it was evident in the IPL that he was prepared to give himself a little bit more time in the powerplay to help him get set and allow him to go big later on. Four centuries and four fifties in 2022 IPL season would suggest his modified approach is already paying dividends.
As such, taking Buttler for Man of the Match honours at 8/1 is the obvious starting point, though I can't resist a second bet on DAWID MALAN who remains criminally underrated despite still averaging in excess of 40 in T20Is.
Malan made a ODI century against the Netherlands just a few weeks ago and while his T20 Blast form for Yorkshire has been patchy, I actually think he's looked in very good touch on most occasions.
As ever, Malan is backed to step up a gear when pulling on an England shirt, and quotes of 5/1 for top England batsman and 14/1 for Man of the Match look plain wrong.
I'll take him along with Buttler in the Man of the Match market.
The India side markets are tricky, particularly with a few concerns about Rohit's form and readiness for this, but Dinesh Karthik has enjoyed a terrific 12 months, and as usual, will be expected to add the finishing touches to India's batting innings.
Karthik did just that when top scoring with 55 from only 27 balls in match four of India's recent drawn series with South Africa – one in which India still appeared to be struggling to find their right combinations – and though he is sure to be held back for the finish again, he is capable of catching up quickly and might be one to take big prices about in-running for top India batsman.
Published at 1200 BST on 06/07/22
More cricket content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.