Free cricket betting tips: Australia v India on Thursday 17 December

Betting tips: Australia v India Test series

3pts Marnus Labuschagne top Australia series batsman at 10/3

1pt Rishabh Pant top India series batsman at 20/1

One thing that has continually surfaced during the build-up to the upcoming Border-Gavaskar series between Australia and India is the notion that both sides don't like each other very much. In fact, replace notion with fact and we're probably somewhere close to a fair reflection of relations between the two sets of players.

The IPL has gone a long way to breaking down barriers that once existed between international cricketers from different countries, but ultimately, there is a whole world of difference in playing T20 franchise cricket for big money and representing your country. For most, the IPL is about providing financial security long after the boots have been hung up while also offering the opportunity to broaden skill-sets and experience. Playing Test cricket for your country is the fulfilment of a lifelong dream.

If you can crack the longest form of the game - like Virat Kohli has, like Steve Smith has, like Pat Cummins has - you cherish playing Test cricket for your country dearly and place its importance above everything else. Kohli has done that, so too Smith, Cummins and many more of the big names who will be on show in the next few weeks.

Representing your country is still king, Test cricket, for now, is still king, and that is why, when the players walk out onto the field for the day-night Test at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday, the gloves will be off once again.

The last time India toured Australia in 2018-19, there were flashpoints galore as Kohli and Australia captain Tim Paine went hard at each other throughout while young wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant epitomised the 'new India' in never taking a backwards step and dishing out verbal assaults at free will.

The 'nicer' Australia we were promised after the Newlands scandal has slowly eroded away - in part due to the feeling that the Australian public didn't actually want their cricketers to be nice - and with Smith and David Warner, fitness permitting, back for this series having missed the 2018/2109 one due to their part in the ball-tampering scandal, I'd expect some tasty viewing.

Aside from the above, we should be in for some very watchable cricket, too, with Australia's injury crisis meaning that India will feel they harbour realistic ambitions of repeating their 2-1 victory on these shores two years ago.

That was an historic achievement for Indian cricket, one that was powered by the bat of Cheteshwar Pujara and a wonderful fast-bowling unit that will again be led by Jasprit Bumrah. However, Kohli's absence for the final three Tests is a huge blow. India's captain will return home after the first Test for the birth of his first child and though Rohit Sharma's return to fitness, possibly in time for Sydney and Brisbane, offers a very fine replacement, he is not Virat Kohli.

What his absence does do is make the top India series batsman market more appealing from a betting point of view, and while Pujara is a worthy favourite given he grinded his way to a colossal runs tally of 521 in the 2018/2019 series, I've long been convinced that he could be vulnerable to a sustained short-ball attack. As such, I was interested to see James Pattinson employ that tactic for Australia A in the first tour match at Sydney a week or so ago, with the Victorian eventually getting his man caught at leg gully.

I suspect Australia will go down that road again and although it is no guarantee of success - Pujara will likely opt to duck, weave and wear the short stuff until Australia's four-man attack runs out of patience and energy - it's enough to put me off taking 9/4 about him.

The Indian top order has a few questions that need answering before the series even gets under way, not least who will fill the opening batsman positions with Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill currently vying for two spots. Shaw plays too many shots against the new ball for my liking, while Agarwal could get in trouble when driving if not moving his feet more and transferring his weight into the ball better. Cummins dismissed Agarwal in the preceding ODI series in exactly that manner and Australia are sure to have taken note.

My preference would be for Gill - who impressed in the most recent tour match and looks the have the patience and discipline to hold his own against such a world-class seam attack - to open alongside the supremely-gifted KL Rahul.

The latter looks an unlikely starter for Adelaide despite having made Test match hundreds in Australia and England and coming into this series on the back of a strong run of form in white-ball cricket. Rahul plays the short ball really well - such a valuable asset for visiting batsmen on the fast, bouncy Australian pitches - and he'd have been my top India series batsman pick had he been playing on Thursday.

Still, this is a long tour and with Kohli heading home soon, Rahul ought to get his chance and perhaps number four will prove the perfect fit for him in this form of the game. He's certainly one to keep an eye on.

For now, I'm happy to throw a few quid at the aforementioned Pant who is almost certain to get the gloves over Wriddhiman Saha and warmed up for Adelaide with a blistering century in the last warm-up match.

Pant was India's second most productive batsman on these shores in 2018/2019 with his 350 runs coming at an average of 58.33 and featuring a quite brilliant unbeaten 159 in Sydney to underline his continued development.

A real dasher who can be as frustrating as he can be destructive, Pant won't always produce, but his numbers stack up well and number seven should give him ample protection from the new ball. At 20/1, he's is well worth chancing.

None of the top bowler markets make that much appeal, for all Mitchell Starc's ability to take out the tail makes him an interesting contender for Australia series honours at 7/2. Still, Pattinson is breathing hard down his neck for that third seamer spot and as such, I'm happy to sit this one out.

Instead, my biggest bet of the series, and possibly the winter, will be struck on Marnus Labuschagne at 10/3 to finish the series as top Australia batsman.

Steve Smith understandably heads the betting at 5/4 given he has returned from his ball-tampering ban in such striking fashion, most notably when dominating England in the 2019 Ashes.

However, he wasn't anywhere near as productive in Australia's last Test series again New Zealand a year ago when Neil Wagner appeared to have found a tiny semblance of weakness in his game by bowling at his hip and cramping him for room. It was something Stuart Broad tried late in that 2019 Ashes series, too, and India have the pace in their attack to use the same tactics.

This doesn't mean Smith suddenly has holes in his game - he still managed 214 runs in that three-match series against New Zealand - but he might not be quite as invincible as English cricket fans remember and he didn't train on Tuesday due to a sore back.

He might well oblige at 5/4, but he was completely overshadowed against New Zealand by teammate Labuschagne as the Queensland batsman amassed 549 runs at a staggering average of 91.5. Everything Wanger and co threw at Labuschagne was swatted back with the full face of the bat or a seemingly flawless back-foot game.

After 14 Tests, Labuschagne's average of 63.43 is marginally higher than Smith's and while it might be unrealistic and unfair to expect those numbers to keep on going up, the 26-year-old appears to have an insatiable appetite for big runs and the all-round game to ensure he keeps making them.

As Smith spent the last few months playing in the IPL, Labuschagne prepared for this series with a heavy dose of hard, red-ball cricket in the Sheffield Shield and a couple of hundreds confirm he remains in good touch.

With Warner still injured and already ruled out of the first Test, along with any number of other injury and form concerns for the Australian camp, this market might chiefly concern Smith, Labuschagne, Matthew Wade and Travis Head.

I don't fancy Wade's chances much if the struggling Joe Burns is dropped and the former is asked to open the batting, so a case can be made for Head at 9/1. Nevertheless, he's yet to prove he can consistently produce the big numbers that Labuschagne has and India's off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is a brilliant bowler to left handers.

Labuschagne doesn't have such concerns and looks the only possible bet - and a big one at that. Take the 10/3 and run.

Posted at 1830 GMT on 15/12/20

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