India vs England First Test Odds, Prediction & Betting Tips

England face one of the toughest challenges in test cricket as they head to India for a five test series starting on Thursday morning, with coverage live on TNT Sports.

Check out our two best bets for the first test as Brendon McCullum's charges look for a positive start to the series in Hyderabad.

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India vs England 1st Test Tips

After an enthralling Ashes summer, England now return to test cricket action to face arguably the toughest opponent possible as they face India in a five test series taking place in Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Rajkot, Ranchi and Dharamsala over the next seven weeks.

With pitches expected to turn, the travelling side have perhaps unsurprisingly opted for a spin-heavy eleven for the first test starting on Thursday, with Lancashire's Tom Hartley making his test debut in an attack that also features 19 year old Leicestershire starlet Rehan Ahmed and the returning Jack Leach.

Following the low-scoring, high octane cricket played out on England's last tour three years ago, we could be in for another thrilling series here as Brendon McCullum's distinctive style of cricket looks to win out against an India side that have lost just three of their last 40 home matches over the last decade.

Rohit Sharma 1st Innings Top Scorer

With Virat Kohli missing in action for the first two tests of this series, India fans will be looking to captain Rohit Sharma to shoulder the batting responsibility as he has so often before and as the most experienced, accomplished member of this talented squad, there are worse people to be relying on when your star man is unavailable.

His 39 was the second top score in India's opening innings in their last test outing against South Africa (after Virat Kohli's 46) and he scored 103 and 80 in the first innings in each of the two test victories over West Indies in the series prior to that. With Kohli missing and the responsibility of the captaincy on his shoulders, Sharma will be hoping to lead by example with a tone-setting first innings score.

Ollie Pope over 46.5 match runs

Although Ollie Pope averages fewer runs against India than any other team in his test career so far, the Surrey right-hander is far more settled in the squad than he has been in previous meetings with the Men in Blue and since finding his home at no.3 he's been averaging a more than respectable 45, so England will be hoping he can put in some mature performances in what are likely to be challenging conditions.

Pope has played 11 test matches since his last duck, against India at Edgbaston in 2022, and he's failed to reach the 47 run mark outlined by this money line market on just four occasions, but the last of these was in the second test of last summer's Ashes series where he managed a match total of 45 runs despite damaging his shoulder while fielding in the 1st innings - an injury which kept him out of the remainder of the series.

Although not the strongest player of spin in this England side, Pope is a consistent boundary scorer and has expressed his confidence in the lead-up to the series, suggesting that he'll continue to adhere to the famed Bazball approach. With quick runs perhaps being the key on a pitch that's likely to result in easy wickets, scoring at a run a ball may prove to be invaluable and the 26 year old is one of the players England will be counting on to do just that in Hyderabad.

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