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When looking at the most likely winner of a Test series we need to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the two sides when it comes to the three disciplines of batting, bowling and fielding. To this I'll add an assessment of who has the better captain. In limited-overs cricket the skipper has far less time to think on his feet and requires a quick brain but in Test cricket you need to get the big decisions right. Bat or bowl? Enforce the follow-on or bat again? Take the new ball or hope the old one starts to reverse swing? In Test cricket he needs to be at the very least 10 overs ahead of the game and he's often the man who can sway the game one way or another through his decision-making at crunch time.

On paper India have the better batting-line up. Heck, two of their batters - Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag - have just made the all-time ICC's all-time Test XI. Not only have England not got a current player in that team, no England player has made the team at all! How Sir Ian Botham wasn't included I'll never know but that's a discussion for another day.

Sehwag misses the first two matches through injury but Tendulkar is fit and raring to go. But that only tells half the story. You'll hear me talking time and time again about playing in English conditions and the reality is that England's top seven are far more suited to playing over here than India's. MS Dhoni's men have endless talent in that batting order to go on and get big scores, that much is obvious, but they may well take a couple of Tests to get used to these tracks and the swinging ball. After all, they've only played the one three-day match (against Somerset) in preparation for this and even that was rain-affected.

If the batting is just about even, the bowling certainly isn't. Zaheer Khan will be extremely dangerous over here but he can't bowl every other over. Harbhajan Singh has a good record against England but he's been in poor form recently. For the most part India won't be able to put pressure on the England batsmen from both ends, whereas England will. Graeme Swann is arguably a better off-spinner in English conditions than Singh and James Anderson and Chris Tremlett can cause India plenty of problems too; the first with swing, the second with bounce.

Fielding is probably less significant in Test cricket than it is in limited-overs cricket but catches still win matches. As does the odd brilliant run-out. India have a good slip cordon but there are some old bodies in that side with players the wrong side of 35 who just don't have the athleticism to perform wonders in the field anymore. England are better at running between the wickets, too.

Andrew Strauss or MS Dhoni? The latter has been there and done it in all formats for a while now and has a sparkle about him that few possess. But Strauss has a fantastic record as England Test skipper and keeps a cool head at all times. He knows his troops well and gets the best out of them. There's not much to choose between these two in the longest format.

All in all we have to conclude that England are better equipped to win the series. Of course their price of 2.2 reflects that but odds-against about England in a home series has to be snapped up, irrespective of the opposition.

For top England series batsman I'm going to agree with Ralph Ellis and side with Ian Bell. Jonathan Trott is a big threat to him but this could just be the series when Bell scores mountains of runs against the very best opposition in the game. If the ball is swinging early on and Zaheer is making it talk, the top order will be under huge pressure but coming in at five, Bell probably won't have to deal with it. He looks a great bet at 7.4.

As for India, it takes a brave man to oppose Sachin Tendulkar. If you choose to back him at around 4.0 you will have had a very decent bet but I'd rather side with VVS Laxman, who is a far bigger price at 6.4. He has good experience of having played over here at both international and county level before and plays the short ball very well off the back foot. With Stuart Broad and Chris Tremlett planning on bowling plenty of bouncers, playing them and actually scoring off them, will be a major asset.

Recommended Bets:
4 pts Back England to win the Series @ 2.2
1pt Back England to win the Series 1-0 @ 10.5; 1pt back England to win 2-0 @ 8.0
2 pts Back Ian Bell to be Series top England batsman @ 7.4
2 pts Back VVS Laxman to be Series top Indian batsman @ 6.4

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