India to confirm superiority

There are plenty of bad omens for England as they look to upset the 13/8 odds (Bet365) in their marathon seven-match one-day series against India, which starts at Hampshire Rose Bowl on Monday. Indian captain Rahul Dravid has not lost in six one-day matches against England, Sachin Tendulkar has an astonishing 41 tons in his limited-overs career and the hosts' horror run in this format continued this summer with a 2-1 reverse against West Indies. Yet for all the statistics and analysis of why the opposition are so good and England are so poor, often it pays to look at the respective players. And simply, India have the better ones so back them for series glory to go with their Test success at 8/13 with Ladbrokes. Often bookmakers price up a one-day contest with what happened in the Test series on their mind. But in this case they haven't, which is strange. Ladbrokes had gone 5/6 the pair before the value was hoovered up and they still might not have gone skinny enough about India. Clearly they are superior. The Tests - normally a reliable marker - proved that. Indeed India look to have got even stronger. Impressive all-rounder Yuvraj Singh has come in to bolster a batting line-up which still boasts Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. While with the ball, the unpredictable Sri Sreesanth has been replaced by Munaf Patel, who is capable of bursts of pace with none of the histrionics. They have a canny spinner too, in Ramesh Powar. Powar could be vital for India given England's horrible record of attempting, and failing, to work spinners in the gaps in the middle of an innings. He took nine wickets in the series the last time these sides met in early 2006 and he could be a touch of value at 7/1 with Coral. There are two better bets, however. Back Ganguly for top India runscorer honours at 9/2 with Bet365 and James Anderson for top England wicket-taker at the same price with Coral. Ganguly has the opportunity to bat the full 50 given he opens the batting and has looked good in the Tests. Anderson was man of the series for England in the same series and his swing should still be dangerous. Verdict: 2pts Ganguly top India series runscorer @ 9/2 (bet365)1pt Anderson top England series wicket-taker @ 9/2 (Coral)