Rs 2k crore will ride on each match

Hosts India firm favourites to lift the World Cup, say bookies; thousands of crores ride on each match

Rs 2k crore will ride on each match

Hosts India firm favourites to lift the World Cup, say bookies; thousands of crores ride on each match

Team India sure have an advantage at home turf, but it is the underworld that is going to make the killing through betting in the upcoming World Cup matches.

Sources in the betting circle say the turnover from the 49 World Cup matches could be higher than the country's entire defence budget (2010-2011), which is estimated to be around Rs 1.47 lakh crore.

The turnover from the 18 group elimination matches, the sources reveal, are estimated between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000 crore per match.

At the quarterfinal stages, the stakes could spiral up to anything between Rs 2,500 and Rs 3,000 crore.

For the semis, the turnover may shoot up to around Rs 4,000 crore. And more than Rs 5,000 crore will be at stake if India reaches the final.

According to insiders, most of the top bookies and their punters have shifted base to plush farmhouses on the outskirts of the city in search of a safe haven.
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Many of them have migrated to Gujarat and a few are camping at casinos in Goa.

A punter, requesting anonymity, said, "We find it safer to operate from outside Mumbai as the police will turn the heat on the bookies when the World Cup starts.

Most law enforcement agencies are equipped with a phone tracking system, making us vulnerable to arrests."

The whopping money involved in cricket betting has attracted the attention of the underworld. Some of the key players are members of the Dawood Ibrahim and Santosh Shetty gangs, operating from South East Asia.

According to an insider from the bookie circle, a large number of white-collared associates have been assigned the task to mingle with international cricketers and lure them by offering money and women to play as per the bookies' discretion.

Aware that a large number of punters will operate from social clubs spread across the city, the police have strengthened their network to keep tabs on the bookies linked to underworld gangs.

"We are keeping tabs on bookies suspected to be working for the underworld.

The recovery of 10 SIM cards from Dubai service providers points to bookies are keeping in touch with their counterparts in the Gulf," said Jt Commissioner of Police (Crime) Himanshu Roy.

Rs 5,000 cr
Amount that will be at stake on the betting counter if India makes it to the World Cup final

Odds for India's top run getters

Sachin Tendulkar
Rs 2.60

Virender Sehwag
Rs 2.80

Gautam Gambhir
Rs 3.40

Yuvraj Singh
Rs 7.60

Suresh Raina
Rs 10.50

The odds
Indiau00a0Rs 2.95
Sri Lankau00a0Rs 6.25
South Africau00a0Rs 5
Australiau00a0Rs 5.20
Englandu00a0Rs 8.50
Pakistanu00a0Rs 9
New Zealandu00a0Rs 22
West Indiesu00a0Rs 25
Bangladeshu00a0Rs 60