talkSPORT England vs India 1st Test betting tips – Best cricket bets and expert advice

The international cricket summer has had a couple of entertaining warm-ups, with England thrashing Zimbabwe and South Africa beating Australia in the WTC final.
But, for England fans in particular, the serious stuff starts now.
The focus of the cricketing world is on Headingley where England's Ben Stokes and India's Shubman Gill will lead out their sides for the first of five Tests in what promises to be a mouthwatering series.
India are 15/8 to win in Leeds - the last time they won the opening Test of a series in England, however, was way back in 1986. England, who have won seven of their last eight home Tests, are a 4/6 chance.
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England vs India first Test tips
- Ollie Pope Over 24.5 runs - 1st innings @ 17/20
- Harry Brook Over 3.5 fours - 1st innings @ 8/11
- Yashasvi Jaiswal Under 27.5 runs - 1st innings @ 17/20
Ollie ought to bless his backers with handsome first-innings haul
The weather is set fair for Headingley and given the speed with which England get on with their Test-match batting, it's probably safe to take the draw out of the reckoning for the 1st Test.
England have not drawn any of their last 19 matches since a rain-ruined showdown with the Australians in Manchester almost two years ago.
On home soil, in conditions they know and on a Headingley track which did look surprisingly green-tinged when it was unveiled this week, Ben Stokes' men look the likely winners and are priced accordingly.
The 4/6 may tempt some but there are plenty of other markets to pile into and one that jumps off the list is the 17/20 that Ollie Pope gets over 24.5 runs.
Pope's place at No.3 in the line-up is under intense pressure from Jacob Bethell but he is the vice-captain, Stokes' preference and is in good nick having scored a championship ton for Surrey this summer before hitting Zimbabwe for 171 at Trent Bridge.
Clearly Jasprit Bumrah and his team-mates are going to represent a sterner test than the Zimbabwean attack, but Pope scores big when he is set and he should flourish.
Brook to pepper the ropes on home ground
No player epitomises Bazball more than Harry Brook, who can play to type and send the ball to all corners of a ground he knows better than most.
The destructive Yorkshire middle-order batter is a flat-track bully who will look to go after the Indian attack, whatever the state of the match, and that usually means finding the ropes.
In 41 innings for England he has smashed 40 sixes and 252 fours, an average of 6.1 fours per knock.
In his only international game this summer he clubbed nine boundaries - six of them fours - in a brisk 58 against Zimbabwe and he looks a good thing to manage at least four fours against India in the first innings.
Jaiswal to struggle against Lions' new-ball attack
India will be delighted that Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad are no longer around to torment them in English conditions and, also, that Mark Wood is injured.
But there is enough class and guile in an attack led by super-swinger Chris Woakes to ensure the Indians will be tested around off stump.
These are conditions that Yashasvi Jaiswal, for example, won't know well and he may struggle at Headingley.
The exciting 23-year-old has had four knocks on tour so far, scoring 24 and 64 against England Lions at Canterbury and then 17 and 5 against the same opponents at Northampton.
Against the new ball in Leeds he is nobody's idea of a good thing to get to 27.5 runs in the first knock.
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All odds correct at time of writing.
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