Feature
Best part about match situation is that you don’t need to think so much – Virat Kohli
“To be honest, I never doubted myself in game situations. Everyone who is human has doubts and weaknesses. Have their negatives. So in practice during tours, if you haven”t had a good session you feel you don”t have that flow,” Virat Kohli said.
“Yes, doubts creep in then and it”s at the back of your mind. Key is to keep going and get into that zone till you feel that it was just distraction. If I believe I am good enough, then I am good enough.
“Best part about match situation is that you don”t need to think so much. You react to situations knowing your role. Negative voices always come off the field when you are not in competition mode,” said the 31-year old prolific batsman.
Kohli added that when he used to watch India matches, he would invariably think he had it in him to chase down the total.
“Honestly, when I was a kid, I used to watch India games and see them lose I would go to sleep thinking I could have won that match. If I am chasing 380, I never feel that you can”t achieve it.
“In 2011 in Hobart, we had to chase 340 in 40 overs to qualify. At the break I told (Suresh) Raina that we will approach this match as two 20 over games. 40 overs is a big duration. Let”s first play 20 and see how many runs are scored and then play another T20 game.”
Kohli also lauded throwdown specialist D. Raghavendra, saying his ability to pump in speeds in excess of 150-155 kmph with the sidearm enormously contributed to Indian batsmen”s improvement against fast bowling in recent years.
“I believe the improvement this team has shown while playing fast bowling since 2013 has been because of Raghu. He has good concepts about footwork, bat movement of players. He has improved his skills so much that from sidearm he can easily hurl the balls at 155 kmph. After playing Raghu in nets, when you go into the match, you feel there is a lot of time.”
Kohli also spoke about how he had to change his approach to batting to suit his requirement.
“I changed because I wanted to hit all around the ground. The static position was making my options limited. My basic funda of batting is that if your hips are in perfect position then you can play any shot. Static position wasn”t working well for me.
Cyclonic storm is likely to hit a large part of the coastal areas with very heavy rainfall
Entertainment
Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.