Feature
RCB vs MI: Teams in the bottom to fight for win
A Virat Kohli century and an AB de Villiers half-century have helped Royal Challengers resurrect a wavering campaign. Prior to back-to-back wins on Saturday and Monday, they had suffered a hat-trick of defeats. Their see-sawing form can be attributed to a bowling attack, which apart from Shane Watson, has been loose.
The Royal Challengers bowling will be tested again at the M Chinnaswamy stadium. Its flat pitch and small outfield must be welcome signs to a Mumbai Indians batting line-up that had collapsed to 92 all out in swing-friendly Visakhapatnam on Sunday.
Rohit Sharma has been excellent in chases and Krunal Pandya has been the find of the season with his frenetic cameos and rapid left-arm spin. If Kieron Pollard and Jos Buttler can keep up with their reputations, the defending champions can still make a strong push for the playoffs. After 10 games, they are in fifth place with 10 points. Royal Challengers are one spot below, but they have a game in hand and three of their next four matches take place at home as well.
Watson was purchased for INR 9.5 crore by Royal Challengers and he has been worth it. Not only has he bolstered the middle-order with his clean striking, his bowling has been near impeccable. Watson has mixed his pace, and tellingly, his length to choke batsmen at various stages of an innings.
Mumbai Indians had begun the season grappling for a viable No. 3. Ambati Rayudu grabbed his chance with a half-century against Sunrisers Hyderabad lash month. He is Mumbai’s second-highest run-scorer with 277 runs at 30.77 and a strike rate of 124.21 and his contributions have taken some pressure off Rohit.
Bangalore is a six-hitting paradise so the temptation to bring Chris Gayle back would be strong, despite the West Indian’s lack of form. Australia batsman Travis Head hasn’t had much of a role down the order, so perhaps he could make way. England fast bowler Chris Jordan has not lived up to expectations in his two matches, but South Africa left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi had been fairly good for them. A switch may be in the offing.
Squad:
Royal Challengers Bangalore (probable): 1 Virat Kohli (capt), 2 Chris Gayle/ Travis Head, 3 KL Rahul (wk), 4 AB de Villiers, 5 Shane Watson, 6 Sachin Baby, 7 Stuart Binny, 8 Chris Jordan/Tabraiz Shamsi, 9 Iqbal Abdulla, 10 Varun Aaron, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal
Mumbai Indians (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Parthiv Patel (wk), 3 Ambati Rayudu, 4 Krunal Pandya, 5 Jos Buttler/ Martin Guptill, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Tim Southee/ Corey Anderson, 10 Mitchell McClenaghan, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
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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