Australia v India fourth Test outright odds: India aim to complete MCG hat-trick

The five-match series between Australia and India is finely poised at 1-1 after three matches but the hosts will be wary of India's threat going into the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.

India won in Melbourne in 2018 and 2020 on their way to 2-1 series victories over Australia and they claimed a morale-boosting draw in this month's third Test in Brisbane.

The tourists had thumped their hosts by 295 runs in the first Test in Perth but Australia's pink-ball prowess powered them to a 10-wicket in Adelaide's day-night fixture.

India needed some batting heroics from number 11 Akash Deep to avoid the follow-on in a rain-affected third Test at the Gabba but the weather forecast is good for a compelling Boxing Day Test.

Outright odds

Fourth Test	Series
Australia - 1.61	Australia - 2.10
Draw - 11.00	Draw - 3.00
India - 2.87	India - 4.00

Fourth Test odds

Australia - 1.61

India are the only team to beat Australia in Melbourne since the 2010/11 Ashes and their last three Boxing Day Tests include innings victories over England in 2021 and South Africa in 2022.

Australia responded impressively to their first-Test defeat, dominating the day-night match in Adelaide and claiming a 185-run first-innings lead in the draw in Brisbane last time out.

Travis Head continued his superb run with a blistering 152 at the Gabba and there was also a welcome century from Steve Smith – his first in 25 Test innings.

However, there are changes further up the order as opener Nathan McSweeney has been dropped after modest returns in his first three Test appearances so teenager Sam Konstas is set to make his debut.

With Josh Hazlewood injured, Scott Boland is expected to come into the pace attack at the MCG, where captain Pat Cummins took 10 wickets in last year's win over Pakistan.

India - 2.87

India will be delighted to arrive in Melbourne with the series all-square, having been reduced to 5-74 in reply to Australia's 445 in the third Test.

Rain came to the tourists' aid and there was an emotional coda to the Brisbane draw as legendary spinner Ravichandran Ashwin announced his retirement from international cricket.

India are 2.87 to win the Melbourne Test, as they did on their last two tours of Australia, but they have concerns over their batting unit, with Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill and skipper Rohit Sharma all short of runs.

Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been sensational, taking 21 wickets at an average of 10.90 in the first three matches, but he desperately needs more support from his fellow pacemen.

Series odds

Australia - 2.10

Australia must not dwell on their recent MCG defeats to India, or their frustrating draw in the third Test, if they are to land odds of 2.10 by winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Cummins and Mitchell Starc routed Pakistan in Melbourne last year and India's fragile batting, coupled with their reliance on Bumrah, suggests Australia can kick on in the final two matches of the series.

India - 4.00

India should not be written off after the character they showed on the 2018/19 and 2020/21 tours but they need their senior batters to step up.

Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal have contributed little since their second-innings centuries in Perth while Rishabh Pant, another potential matchwinner with the bat, has a top score of just 37 in the series.

These rivals remain well matched, however, and the series draw can be backed at 3.00.

Any odds displayed were correct at the time of writing and are subject to fluctuation.