England vs India betting tips
- Joe Root to score 100+ runs over the match - 5/4 Bet365
- Jasprit Bumrah to be top 1st innings bowler - 10/3 Bet365
England take on India at Headingley in the first of a five-Test series with Brendon McCullum’s side looking to build on a comprehensive win over Zimbabwe last time out.
These Tests are the second fixtures of a jam-packed summer cricket schedule that includes ODI matches against South Africa and T20s against Ireland, with the Test side building up to the Ashes in Australia, which start in late November.
And England, ranked as the world’s third-best Test side behind Australia and South Africa, have been in good form in recent Test series, having beaten New Zealand and Sri Lanka in 2024/25.
They take on an India side who have lost both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to retirement recently, though they still possess plenty of danger with both bat and ball in the form of Jasprit Bumrah and Yashasvi Jaiswal, among others.
And though the tourists sealed a 4-1 victory in the reverse series in India in 2024, it’s England who are the favourites with cricket betting sites, with the hosts priced at 8/13 to win the match versus 15/8 for an India victory.
England vs India betting tip: Root to lead England batsmen
The warm-up match against Zimbabwe provided the chance for plenty of those in the batting order to gain some confidence ahead of a busy summer, with the performances of Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley catching the eye as they scored 140 and 124 respectively.
However, some of the recent performances from that duo – including 15 for Duckett against New Zealand and a 25 and 26 in consecutive games in that series for Crawley – alongside excellent performances from Joe Root and Harry Brook, provided a reminder that the latter duo remain England’s premier batters.
In fact, those two are ranked as the two best Test batsmen in the world at the moment, with Root currently in first.
Despite a woeful overall team performance in the 4-1 loss to India last year, Root was one of those able to score over 100 in two of the Tests, having racked up 133 over two innings in Ranchi and 110 in Dharamsala.
He only managed a 34 against Zimbabwe, though 86 and 109 against New Zealand – combined with a mammoth 262 against Pakistan and twin hundreds against Sri Lanka – show that he is often the man England turn to against the better opposition.
Despite the prowess of Bumrah, Root has solid form on his home ground at Headingley, including a century against India in Leeds in 2021, so we’re backing the 34-year-old to score 100 or more runs in the first Test, at odds of around 5/4 with various betting sites.
England vs India prediction 1: Joe Root to score 100+ runs over the match - 5/4 Bet365
England vs India prediction: Bumrah to spearhead India bowling effort
It is a somewhat inexperienced India side that arrives in Leeds for the start of this series, with several different faces from the team that beat England 4-1 last year.
The retirement of Kohli and Sharma lend a different look to the batting line-up especially, but there will be some familiar faces in the bowling attack.
Bumrah was the man to terrorise the England batsmen last year, taking 19 wickets across four matches, and the pace bowler has continued solid form in recent Tests, having taken 32 wickets across his last five matches at this level – including nine in back-to-back games in Australia in December.
India may only have Bumrah for a portion of the series after the bowler confirmed he turned down the captaincy due to concerns over his fitness.
However, he remains his side’s most important player and the odds reflect that, with prices at just 10/11 for Bumrah to get over 5.5 wickets. With that in mind, if you’re looking for more value on the 31-year-old, back him to be the top 1st innings bowler at odds of 10/3.
England vs India prediction 2: Jasprit Bumrah to be top 1st innings bowler - 10/3 Bet365
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