Cometh the Indian Premier League (IPL), cometh the season of daily cricket betting. From its debut season itself, the high octane, annual cricket event being held every April-May became as much synonymous with evening entertainment in every Indian household as it did with controversies.
Cricket and betting has always been a heady cocktail and the IPL, even more so. The betting markets or satta bazaars in India are also gearing up for action and the pre-tournament favourites have been pencilled in.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI) are the current favourites of Indian bookies. The books will open on April 5 — the first day of the landmark season 10 as Sunrisers Hyderabad takes on Royal Challengers Bangalore in Hyderabad.
“RCB looks good, it's definitely a favourite,” said one Delhi bookie on condition of anonymity. The absence of injured skipper Virat Kohli is not making any dent on its front-runner tag. “So what if Kohli is not there? India won a match in Dharamsala recently without him,” came in the quick response. Interestingly, Kohli, who amassed 973 runs, was the top scorer in 2016 and had won the Orange Cap.
Bookies are also dismissive of the fact that absence of India's star cricketers would take some sheen off the tournament. While R Ashwin, Murali Vijay and K.L. Rahul will miss the league completely, Ravindra Jadeja and Umesh Yadav are likely to miss a few initial games. “The business will continue regardless of this as there are other players. New performers will come up,” said another bookie.
However, in west India, a hub of betting, Mumbai Indians score as pre-tournament favourites. “We haven't opened our books yet, but here in west India, Mumbai Indians are tipped as favourites at the start of the IPL,” said a bookie from Mumbai.
Meanwhile, the Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) of the ICC is on high alert since the leagues are considered more vulnerable to corruption, and IPL is no different. The ACU has reportedly commenced its player education briefings with individual teams.
