Cricket is a beloved sport worldwide, but there are few places where people are more passionate about it than India. It’s the most popular sport in this country, and you can find people playing it anywhere.
Its popularity is also growing, which is excellent news for the sport because, in other major cricket markets such as the United Kingdom, the number of people that play cricket is actually decreasing.
A brief story of Cricket in India
Cricket has a long history in India, which helped its consolidation as the national sport. The first game was played in 1721 and has steadily grown in popularity until today. To measure its popularity, in February 1999, the match between India and Pakistan had an attendance of 465,000 people.
The Indian national Cricket team is the best in the world when measuring it over the three forms of Cricket that are played internationally: Test Cricket, Twenty20, and ODI Cricket.
This is one of several interesting facts about cricket betting in India, too, because the odds are often in favour of the Indian team.
Some numbers about Cricket betting in India
There are some numbers to give you an idea of how popular cricket betting is in India:
- 370 million potential bettors
Indians are keen on wagering on sports events. MyBetting India assessed that 370 million Indians placed bets on sports events each year. Of these bets, the majority are for Cricket games.
- 140 million active bettors
Of those 370 million bettors, 140 million place bets regularly. Again, most of those bets are for Cricket games.
- 1867
In 1867 the Public Gaming Act was enabled. Since then, Indians have been placing bets on Cricket and other sports.
- 4%
This is the percentage of bettors who are male. It shows that most people participating in gambling are men, but more than 1 in 10 are women.
- 6%
This percentage corresponds to the number of bettors between 18 to 24 years old who bet online. It’s interesting to know that betting is mainly done by young adults, contrary to some sayings that this is an “old man” activity.
- 4850334000000 Indian Rupees
This is the whopping yearly revenue for all the gambling markets in India. While there are no hard numbers on how much Cricket bettings contribute to this amount, it’s well-known it’s the major part.
How people wager on Cricket games
The traditional way of placing bets on Cricket games is via bookkeepers. These land-based operators offer different odds based on their calculations of the outcome of each match.
However, online betting is getting more common every day. Specialised sportsbook operators allow betting on many sports, including Cricket. Some of the good things about these websites are that some offer many tools such as statistics, live transmission of events, and much more.
You can also place bets on most, if not all, Indian Cricket competitions. These include such options as the Ranji Trophy, the Irani Trophy, and, of course, the Indian Premier League. Many Indians also like to bet on international events and teams, which is also possible on these websites.
More about online Cricket betting in India
Since gambling is only allowed in Goa, Sikkim, and Daman and is generally illegal elsewhere, is it a good idea to place bets online? Well, it might. The issue is that since the Public Gaming Act is so old, it doesn’t mention online gambling.
The good news is that since it doesn’t mention it, online gambling is not illegal, and nobody can get in trouble when doing it. This is true for most places, but there are online gambling bans, too, such as in the state of Maharashtra.
Since online betting is becoming so popular, there have been talks in some states, such as Tamil Nadu, to regulate online gambling. It would be an essential step forward because it would allow Indian-based online casinos to offer their services.
Exciting opportunities
With all that’s been said, there’s no better time for Indian Cricket gamblers than today. Cricket is becoming more popular each day, as is the betting market. There’s the chance to place online bets, allowing gamblers to browse sites to find the best odds.
With the advent of the smartphone, it’s even easier to do since you can place bets when you’re travelling or in any situation, as opposed to needing a computer or going to the bookkeeper.
If you’re inclined to betting on Cricket, always be safe and place your bets responsibly.
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