Betting tips / Chris Cairns / 03 January 2012 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

Chris Cairns feels Michael Clarke will have the last laugh as he predicts him having a bit hit in the second Test against India.

With this being the 100th Test at Australia's spiritual home of cricket, who better than the man averaging 200 at this venue to gate crash the party.

Sachin Tendulkar is quite simply a genius on the cricket field, and the SCG no doubt has a special feel for Tendulkar.

However, I don't expect any history to have a bearing on the future result in Sydney. The reason for this is the transformation the pitch at the SCG has undergone. In the last two seasons there has been a shift from the previous slow, almost subcontinent style pitch, to a now quicker, bouncier type.

Of the previous eighteen Test matches at the SCG there has been one draw - India in 2007. Last year's Ashes Test saw three wickets in the match taken by the spinners.

Pattern emerging?

Absolutely.

In years gone by it was a case of batting first at the SCG and getting through the first session and then knowing you had the chance to bowl on a turning pitch in the fourth innings. After the 2010 and 2011 Tests, the Captain who wins the toss will no doubt insert the opposition and look to maximize the better batting conditions on days two and three.

Looking back quickly at the Boxing Day Test, it was India's bowling that surprised me by capturing all twenty Aussie wickets. Disappointingly, their much vaunted batting line-up was undone by excellent Aussie bowling via hostile accuracy and aggression.

In Pattinson, Aussie has a bowler not afraid of showing his emotions. A few years back I felt Australia was trying to play the game with a too politically correct focus, a bit like Mike Tyson trying to emit a public personality equivalent to Mother Theresa.

You are who you are, and Australia are aggressive by nature.

It would be good to see Australia go in with an unchanged line up, as will India I suspect. Zaheer looked good in Melbourne and I believe the wickets will continue for him as it will Pattinson, my pick in this match as highest wicket taker.

On the batting front, I have a feeling Michael Clarke is due and with it being his home ground and batting at five, he is best placed in these conditions to be highest innings scorer.

As for India I would love to say Tendulkar but I fear we may have to wait for Adelaide for the little master to reach his century of centuries. At five, Laxman is also due so he is my man for India this Test.

Australia are favourites in match odds betting