Feature
Ashwin becomes ICC No. 1 Test bowler, Smith as top test batsmen
Dubai: In the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings released today, Top Indian Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin today ranked as the No. 1 bowler in Test cricket.
He has become the second bowler after legendary Bishan Singh Bedi to be placed on the top spot in Tests.
Ashwin achieved the top spot for the first time in his career after injury prevented South African Dale Steyn from bowling more than 3.5 overs in England’s second innings in the Durban Test.
Even though the fast bowler bagged four wickets in the first innings, it wasn’t enough for him to end the year as the No.1 bowler for the sixth time since 2009, and the position went to the Chennai man. Steyn had started the Durban Test leading Ashwin by four points and now trails the Indian tweaker by the same margin.
The 29-year-old Ashwin has become the first Indian since Bedi in 1973 to achieve the milestone of finishing the year as No.1. In fact, Bedi, an ICC Hall of Famer, is the only Indian to ever top the Test bowling table while Bhagwath Chandrasekhar, Kapil Dev and Anil Kumble peaked at No.2 during their careers.
Ashwin finished 2015 as the most successful bowler with 62 wickets in nine Tests and this is reflected in his ranking after he started the year in 15th and slowly but surely moved to the top.
In the past decade, Australian Shane Warne finished in the top spot in 2005 and Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralidaran completed a hat-trick from 2006 to 2008 before Steyn got his grip on the top spot which was only broken in 2013 when his teammate Vernon Philander topped the table.
“Finishing the year as the No.1 ranked Test bowler is like an icing on the cake that I have managed to build over the past 12 months. I always wanted to get there one day. There can’t be a better way to finish 2015,” Ashwin said.
“Replicating what Mr. Bedi did is something I am very proud of. The former India captain was a master at his craft and I am very humbled to follow in his footsteps. I would like to thank my Test captain Virat Kohli, who has been a big influence, and, of course, the team management, my teammates and the BCCI for their continued support.”
The only other Indian in the top-10 bowlers’ list is Ravindra Jadeja, who also rose a spot to be ranked No.6.
Ashwin, for the second time in three years, also finished as the No.1 ranked Test all-rounder with Jadeja in fifth.
Meanwhile, Australian captain Steve Smith, who last week won the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the Cricketer of the Year as well as the Test Cricketer of the Year awards, has jumped three spots to become the No.1 ranked batsman in Tests.
There are no Indians in the top-10 list of Test batsmen.
Top-10 Test batsmen:
1. Steve Smith (Aus) 899 points
2. Kane Williamson (NZ) 889
3. Joe Root (Eng) 888
4. AB de Villiers (SA) 877
5. David Warner (Aus) 827
6. Younus Khan (Pak) 826
7. Angelo Mathews (SL) 808
8. Hashim Amla (SA) 774
9. Misbah-ul-Haq (Pak) 764
10. Alastair Cook (Eng) 764
Top-10 Test bowlers:
1. Ravichandran Ashwin (Ind) 871 points
2. Dale Steyn (SA) 867
3. Stuart Broad (Eng) 859
4. Yasir Shah (Pak) 846
5. James Anderson (Eng) 838
6. Ravindra Jadeja (Ind) 789
7. Trent Boult (NZ) 787
8. Josh Hazlewood (Aus) 752
9. Vernon Philander (SA) 739
10. Tim Southee (NZ) 731
Top-5 Test all-rounders:
1. Ravichandran Ashwin (Ind) 406 points
2. Shakib Al Hasan (Ban) 384
3. Stuart Broad (Eng) 326
4. Vernon Philander (SA) 293
5. Ravindra Jadeja (Ind) 259
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.
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