India favourites to get back on track

Despite their series defeat against Australia, India are hot favourites to bounce back in their two-Test series against South Africa which begins at Nagpur on Saturday. An Indian victory is 20/27, while South Africa are a tempting 6/1 to win the first Test. The draw is 6/4.

Series correct score
If the bet365 odds are to be believed an Indian victory is almost certain. A 1-0 win is 13/8, and a 2-0 win for Ganguly's men is 7/4. A drawn series with either a 0-0 or 1-1 result is 6/1. Victories for South Africa are temptingly priced at 10/1 for a 1-0 win, or 33/1 for a 2-0 whitewash.

Recent form
This will be South Africa's the first Test under their new coach Ray Jennings, and it will be interesting to see the impact he has. The side itself has an unfamiliar look to it, being without Herschelle Gibbs, Nicky Boje, Mark Boucher and Lance Klusener.

A few clues to South Africa's form can be found in their performance in Sri Lanka earlier in the year. That tour resulted in a 1-0 Test-series defeat (followed by a humiliating 5-0 whitewash in the one-dayers). The first Test was a draw: following a superb 237 from Mahela Jayawardene, Jacques Rudolph contributed a classy ton. But Kumar Sangakkara was the tormentor-in-chief in the second Test - his first-innings 232 set up a crushing 313-run win for Sri Lanka. The South African batting in both innings was characterised by players getting a start and then failing to build the big innings that would have made a difference - there were half-centuries for Graeme Smith and Martin van Jaarsveld in the first innings, and from Boeta Dippenaar in the second.

Top Team Batsman - Series
The only noteworthy score to date by the South Africans on this tour is a first-innings 86 from Smith, the captain, in the warm-up match against the President's XI at Jaipur. Jacques Kallis seems to have recovered from injury and is installed as joint-favourite to top-score for South Africa in the series alongside his skipper. Both players are 5/2. Of those at longer odds, Justin Ontong at 10/1 is worth considering.

For India, the bruising experience of the Australian series was slightly offset by a win in the final Test. There were signs of a return to form for Sachin Tendulkar and - at last - for VVS Laxman. Tendulkar is 3/1 favourite to lead the Indian runscoring in the two-match series, while Laxman must be worth considering at 4/1. Virender Sehwag (the leading runscorer against Australia) and Rahul Dravid are both 7/2. Mohammad Kaif emerged with considerable credit from the Australian series, and is certainly worth a look at 7/1.

With wickets for Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble the bowling highlights against Australia - and with South Africa distinctly lacking in the spin department - there will be no surprises if the teams are confronted by some spin-friendly pitches. Punters can get 15/8 on each of Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble leading the Indian wicket-tally in this series, although Murali Kartik at 5/1 offers better value. For South Africa, their sole front-line spinner Robin Peterson is a great bet to take most Indian wickets at 13/2.