Are Cricket's Best Test Nation Also The Best One Day International Side?

When it comes to Test Match cricket England currently sit as the No.1 nation in the world.

Whether they deserve that lofty position is open to debate... away series wins in South Africa and especially on the sub-continent are surely needed before Andrew Strauss and his England side can be seen (at least by the sport's leading commentators) as the world's best.

Are England a good 'one day' side?

Few can argue with recent, convincing series wins over Australia, Sri Lanka and India... under the management of Andy Flower England are a professional, well-organised and highly motivated unit.

That's at Test level anyway... can the same be said of the One Day International side?

Probably not.

Jonathan Trott is England's only Top 10 ODI batsman

For example, in the '5 day game' England have four batsmen in the top ten of the ICC World Rankings (Pietersen, Trott, Cook & Bell) and three bowlers (Swann, Anderson & Broad).

They have just one in the same ODI rankings (Trott & Swann). They sit 4th in the ICC standings... one point and one place above India!

Never the less, this is a very different side under Alastair Cook to the one led by Andrew Strauss.

Key reasons why England will lose in India

There's good reason to expect England to struggle in India on their short, end of Summer tour - and that's even with players like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan not featuring for the host nation.

1. Just as the Indian tour of England this Summer (a rather shambolic one) was a 'tour too far' for India, this may well be the same for England. On the go for the best part of 12 months, this is no easy ask at the end of a tough schedule.
2. Despite personnel issues for the hosts, England will have no Eoin Morgan and Stuart Broad (injury) and no James Anderson (rested). And despite their group being young and keen... they're also very inexperienced.
3. India will also have huge motivation to save face after a miserable Summer and with conditions to suit must start as deserved favourites on home soil.
4. England beat India 3-0 in the recent home ODI series but all three wins were fairly close and that was against an 'already beaten' opponent.
5. Past form (i.e. on the sub-continent). England lost here 0-5 in 2008/09 and 1-5 in 2005/06. Conditions will be a huge help to India.

Make no bones about it, England will be well-prepared for this challenge but the team looks to be one in transition (again!) and any failure wouldn't been seen as a huge blow. It's about blooding players, preparing for future challenges.

India look a decent bet to beat England in the 5-match One Day International series

As such, India (8/11) look to be the shrewd cricket betting tip to come out on top of the best of five series.

At a better price the correct score betting looks a toss-up between India 3-2 (2/1) or 4-1 (7/2)... with the latter just getting the call as the better value.

The action starts in Hyderabad (Oct 14) then Delhi (Oct 17), Chandigarh (Oct 20), Mumbai (Oct 23) and finally Kolkata (Oct 25).

Enjoy the series and get further sports betting tips from our resident expert, Keith Elliott:

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