Australia vs India Prediction: Red-hot form makes Marsh and Yadav solid bets

Jamie Pacheco previews the 1st ODI between Australia and India played at Perth on Sunday, with a start time of 04:30. TNT Sports 1 is the TV channel to tune into for UK viewers with Live Streaming available on Discovery+

Jamie thinks Aussie skipper Mitch Marsh and Indian leggie Kuldeep Yadav are the men to back here at 10/3 and 14/5 respectively, in an intriguing contest as we head into his Australia vs India Predictions for Sunday's ODI...

*You can check out all of our Cricket Odds over at betfred.com

Australia  

Leading spinner Adam Zampa will miss this match as his wife is expected to give birth over the next couple of days, while Josh Inglis (also ruled out of the Second ODI) misses out with a slight injury.  Glenn Maxwell, king of the unfortunate injury, is still recovering from being hit with the ball in the nets a couple of weeks ago and won't play here, either.  

An interesting angle here is that Australia have called up Josh Philippe to keep wicket because the selectors are keen for Alex Carey to play in a Sheffield Shield match in preparation for the Ashes. This suggests that this contest is playing second fiddle to the 5-Test Series against England in a few weeks' time, as it should be. But Carey will return for the second match.  

As ever, the batting is full of class, skill and power with Travis Head and Mitch Marsh the senior men with the willow, while Matt Short and Mitchell Owen continue to make good progress in international cricket; it will be interesting to see if Cameron Green bowls or is there just as a batsman.  

There are rare ODI duty call-ups for Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, but Pat Cummins is injured. So, when you add Zampa's absence to the equation, you can see they're far from being at full strength with the ball.   

It's a bit strange that Sean Abbott misses out with those two not available, but Ben Dwarshius and Nathan Ellis are capable enough, while there are plenty of all-rounders available to bowl a few overs, if the frontline bowlers aren't at the races.  

India 

It doesn't seem to matter what the format is these days, because India seem to find a way. They secured a very creditable 2-2 draw in the Test series against England in the summer, won the (T20I) Asia Cup almost without breaking sweat, beat the Windies 2-0 in the Test series gone by (without breaking any sweat at all), and now go into this ODI series believing they can win it.  

The Series will provide a rare chance to see Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in action in international cricket, but there's no Ravindra Jadeja. The selectors decided that they have more potent left-arm spinners now and that Jadeja's extra batting isn't necessarily needed.   

Indeed, the batting looks top drawer, as you'd expect, but no Mohammed Shami or Jasprit Bumrah in the squad suggests world-class fast bowling might be in short supply. Not ideal in Australian conditions.  

Kuldeep Yadav has been excellent of late, so maybe Jadeja's omission isn't that surprising.  

Pitch and Conditions

There have only been three ODIs played here since the new stadium was built a few years ago.  

Interestingly, Australia, which played in all of them, lost all of them. They went down to England in 2018, South Africa a few months later, and Pakistan last year.  

First innings scores of 259, 152 and 140 suggest this isn't an easy wicket to bat on. Yeah, it's not the GABBA in Perth where express pace could be lethal on that surface, but there are certainly some demons in this pitch, so anything over 250, albeit from a small sample, could be competitive.  

Match Winner odds 

India are evens, 50% obviously, while Australia are 4/5, which translates as 55.6%.  

I was really hoping for a quote of around 13/10 on India which would have been a bet and that would have been based on the fact that a) India's batting looks stronger,  b) the absences of Zampa and Cummins for Australia make their bowling a little lightweight and c) Glenn Maxwell not being there deprives the Aussies of excellent balance.  

But the odds-compilers aren't giving us that price. If the prices look spot on, we don't play.   

*For all the latest and live Australia vs India Odds then head over to betfred.com 

Top Australian Batsman

Mitch Marsh has had to beat some seriously good players in his time to win Australian Top Batsman betting heats: David Warner, Steve Smith, Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell, even brother Shaun (Marsh). To name but a few.  

Well, he doesn't have to beat any of those this time around because all those have either retired from cricket completely, retired from ODIs, or neither of the above… but aren't playing here for different reasons.  

So, with Travis Head the only other player to boast similarly elite numbers to his own, you'd think that Marsh is a bet at 10/3, especially when you consider he'll certainly bat in the top three. Well, he is a good bet, particularly when you take a look at his recent form. 

Across his last three ODIs (against South Africa) in late August he scored 88, 18 and 100. When playing New Zealand at the start of the month in a IT20 Series, he struck 85, 9 and 103, so he's pretty much in the form of his life. That's good enough for a wager at 10/3.  

Top Indian Bowler

Kuldeep Yadav is another one who wishes the back end of 2025 would never end, if his form is anything to go by.  

At the Asia Cup in September-October, he took 17 wickets in seven games; in four of those matches, he took three or more wickets. 

Then he was somewhat unexpectedly drafted into the Test side, taking four wickets in the first one, and eight in the second, picking up the Player of the Match award in the process.  

A bit like India as a whole, it doesn't seem to matter what the format is because he always delivers. And if that argument doesn't convince you, maybe this one will: he has 181 wickets from 113 ODI games, which is at a strike rate of 31.7.  

And yes, we know that Australia isn't normally a happy hunting ground for spinners, but a world-class player is a world-class player on any surface, while the absences of Bumrah and Shami certainly help his cause. 14/5 is a pretty good price in light of all that.  

Jamie Pacheco Cricket P/L 2025:

• Points Staked: 109 
• Points Returned: 99.25 
• Current P/L: -9.75 

Jamie Pacheco predominantly covers Cricket and European Football for us at Betfred Insights. You can check out his Cricket Betting Tips, along with those from the rest of the team, at our Cricket hub page...