India vs. Australia Betting Tips: Two predictions for high-profile Cricket World Cup clash
Cricket World Cup 2023 hosts India get their campaign off to a start on Sunday in a mouthwatering match-up against Australia at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Cricket fans in the UK can view the game live on Sky Sports at 9.30am.
India vs Australia Tips
India will be looking to continue the trend of the host nation winning the Cricket World Cup.
They did so themselves in 2011, followed by Australia in 2015, then England in dramatic fashion four years ago.
India have been counting down the days to this tournament, but face a tough task to stamp an early win on the board against Australia, who have won four of the last six editions of the World Cup.
India will draw inspiration and motivation from last month's 2-1 ODI Series win over the Aussies, during which they won the first two matches, and prior to that they lifted the Asia Cup.
Not only will the hosts be galvanised by the passionate home support, but they have the advantage of familiar home conditions too. They are the favourites to win the whole thing and I'm backing them to make a statement-winning start at 8/13 with BetMGM.
I'm backing India for the win, but I do like the stand-out price of 7/2 for Steve Smith to be the top Australian batsman, which is available with William Hill.
This bet landed in Australia's recent match against the Netherlands, while he hit 74 off 61 balls in a victory over India last month, as well as 121 in the first innings of June's World Test Championship victory over India.
Smith's form is likely to be crucial to Australia's chances of going deep at this tournament. The 34-year-old boasts a return of 834 runs at previous World Cups and played an instrumental role in his country's 2015 triumph; scoring 402 runs at an average of 67.
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