Cricket Betting Preview: India vs. Australia Odds, 3rd Test Analysis

The India-Australia Test series may be only halfway through, but already it's being proclaimed one of the great series of the modern era.

The score is 1-1 ahead of the crucial third Test at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi, a venue that has never hosted Test cricket before.

We can expect a dusty pitch which will greatly suit the spinners, who have taken the lion's share of the wickets so far in the series. Aussie spinners Steve O'Keefe and Nathan Lyon have 28 of the 40 Indian wickets to fall, while Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have 27 opposition scalps between them.

The ball has dominated at every turn, pun intended, with just one session in the series so far where no wickets have fallen.

India go into this match as $1.61 AUD betting favorites, according to AustralianGambling.com.au, with the draw at $4.40 and an Australia win at $4.75. That draw option would need a substantial intervention from the weather, something the forecasters can't see coming.

In terms of the series, India are $1.57, with Australia at $6 and a drawn series at $3.75.

Australia have endured the hindrance of needing to make two changes with Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Marsh both sent home injured. Marsh has a shoulder injury and could be out for months, while a foot problem has ended Starc's series.

Pat Cummins, who has not played a Test since 2011, will likely come in for Starc, while it's a three-way battle for Marsh's spot between Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Ashton Agar. Finger spinner Maxwell looks to be the front-runner there.

India may make one change with Murali Vijay likely to return, but their concerns are mainly with form, not injury.

Captain Virat Kohli entered the series averaging over 80 in the past 12 months but has come back down to earth with a thud, with just 40 runs in four knocks. Oddsmakers believe the old maxim about form being temporary and class being permanent, and they have installed him as a $3 favorite to top score for India in the first innings.

The honor of favoritism in the Australian lineup belongs to their skipper Steve Smith ($3.50), who has more runs than any other tourist in the series due mainly to his first Test hundred in Pune. Smith's ability to play the Indian spinners will be crucial to Australia's hopes of victory.

He needs more from vice-skipper David Warner, who has been dismissed by Ashwin nine times in 12 Tests including three times in this series.

The pressure is also on Nathan Lyon, who was unplayable with eight wickets in the Indian first innings in Bangalore, but could not get one in the second innings. He, O'Keefe and Maxwell—if he plays—will also be vital to the Australian hopes of victory.

But momentum is a powerful thing in Test cricket, and the Aussies face the likelihood of being 2-1 down unless they can find another heroic effort like that of O'Keefe in Pune. Whatever the result, it will be great to watch.