Cric bookies crumble like Indian rookies

It is not just the Team India that is crumbling in the West Indies. Indian bookies have lost at least Rs500-600 crore.

A bookie said, “The first one-day match which India won meant a windfall for punters who had placed Rs500 crore in bets. The next four matches which India lost not only erased their profits, but also dampened betting activities for the Test series.”

But India were still the favourites for the Tests, the bookie said.

The punters had offered Rs2.25 for every rupee bet at the beginning of the match for an India victory, he said. For West Indies, he said, it was offered a Rs 4.25 return on every rupee.

But the story changed once the famed Indian batting collapsed.

A rupee bet on India was assured of a Rs7 return. A draw would earn Rs 2.75 while a bet on the West Indies’ victory would only gain a 0.65 paise return, another bookie said.  “We are backing the Brian Lara-led team to win the opening match,” he said.

With India’s dismal performance, the bookies have turned to the ongoing England-Sri Lanka series, where a whopping Rs 500-Rs 600 crore is at stake. When the Test at Trent Bridge began, England were the favourites (0.70 paise return on every rupee bet on England win), a bookie said.