Australia vs India first Test prediction and cricket betting tips

Where to watch Australia vs India first Test

TNT Sports 1 & Discovery+ from 2.30am Friday

Best bet

Nathan Lyon to be player of the series
1pt 12-1 Betfair, Paddy Power

Dhruv Jurel top India first-innings runscorer in first Test
1pt 9-1 Betfair, Paddy Power

Australia vs India first Test prediction

Australia's five-match series against India should be a treat for fans of Test cricket and both teams start the first Test in Perth with a point to prove.

The Aussies have lost their last two home series to India, going down 2-1 in 2018-19 and 2020-21, and their last home Test was January's dramatic eight-run defeat to the West Indies in Brisbane.

India's most recent Test series produced an extraordinary 3-0 home defeat to New Zealand, who had won only two of their previous 36 matches in the country.

They will start the series down under with a new-look top order as captain Rohit Sharma is on paternity leave and number three Shubman Gill has suffered a fractured thumb.

But Australia's batsmen also have questions to answer and debutant Nathan McSweeney is set to open against the fearsome Jasprit Bumrah despite spending his entire first-class career in the middle-order.

Australia have some formidable fast bowlers in their ranks but evergreen off-spinner Nathan Lyon could also play a crucial role.

Lyon started his 2024-25 season with eight wickets for New South Wales in their Sheffield Shield fixture against South Australia and he is an eye-catching price to be named player of the series.

He had a quiet series against India in 2020-21 but took 44 wickets in his previous eight home Tests against them and had match figures of 10-108 in February's victory over New Zealand in Wellington.  

In Australia's three home Tests this year, the visiting openers had stands of nought, nought, 14, nought, nine and 13 so India wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel is worth chancing to top-score in the first innings in Perth.

Jurel is expected to bat at number six, well away from the new ball, after impressive knocks of 80 and 68 against Australia A in Melbourne and he made 46, 90, 39 not out and 15 in his maiden Test series against England earlier this year.

Click for more free bets and betting offers from the Racing Post

Commercial notice: This article contains affiliate links. Offers are handpicked and come from operators our experts have first-hand experience of. Opening an account via one of these links will earn revenue for the Racing Post, which will be used to continue producing our award-winning coverage of horseracing and sports betting.