Five reasons to take terrific price on England winning Test series in India

Sharma to miss out on entire series

One of a few plus points to take from England’s Test draw with Bangladesh was that they managed to deal with their middle order and below with relative ease, and India have been hit with the news that Rohit Sharma will miss the entire series.

The 29-year-old, who can bat anywhere from number three to six, was in good touch against New Zealand, where he hit scores of 68no, 82 and 51no, and he will be sorely missed.

Sharma’s thigh injury means he is out for around three months, and he’ll struggle to take part in the ODI series after the New Year too.

Tourists’ top order to prevail

Due to India’s dusty and slow pitches, big scores are expected and the country just happens to be a nation who captain Cook (average of over 54 against them) has played some of his best ever cricket against.

Of his 29 Test hundreds, five have been against the Men in Blue with three of them being in India including his first way back in 2006. The opener’s highest ever score of 294 also came against this opposition, and he is 11/4 to be top England series batsman.

Cook will of course be hoping to lead from the front again and is likely to be aided by Ben Duckett, who played a fine innings of 56 in the last innings against Bangladesh where he showed a great variation of skill and what he’s capable of.

Together with Joe Root, who will be determined to improve after a relatively quiet series for him, at number three, England’s top order should be able to get the visitors off on a roll.

England’s spin variation the key

As mentioned above, Swann and Panesar were terrific with the ball the last time England travelled to India, and they have a number of spin options again.

Although with not as much experience, the variation of leg-breaker Adil Rashid, off-spinners Moeen Ali and Gareth Batty as well as slow-left armer Zafar Ansari, they should have enough to trouble the hosts’ batsmen. On top of that, all of them can bat too.

They all impressed, with Ali (11/4 favourite to be top England series bowler) even taking a five-for, and with even more experience under their belts can play a huge part in the upcoming series.

Surprise return to fitness for Anderson

In a surprising twist ahead of the series, England have been boosted by the news that highest ever wicket taker James Anderson is to join the Test squad and could be fit in time for the second match – after before being ruled out for all five.

While pace bowling is not set to play a huge part in India, he does have a terrific record over the nation having averaged 26.93 and taken three five-wicket hauls from 19 matches against them.

Two of the latter came in India and, with the similarly styled Ben Stokes impressing in Bangladesh, there is certainly hope that Lancashire’s ‘King of Swing’ can deliver here again.

As well as taking a whopping 82 wickets against India, he also registered his highest ever Test total with the bat against them too – with 81.

England’s Tests in India

November 9-13: First Test, Rajkot (04:00 GMT)

November 17-21: Second Test, Visakhapatnam (04:00 GMT)

November 26-30: Third Test, Mohali (04:00 GMT)

December 8-12: Fourth Test, Mumbai (Wankhede Stadium) (04:00 GMT)

December 16-20: Fifth Test, Chennai (04:00 GMT)

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