Feature
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
Only after 43 days of cricket in the Indian Premier League will we have a clear picture about the four teams that’ll compete in this year’s play-offs. That’s great from the tournament’s point of view because it shows how competitive the league stage has been. Not so much if you are Kolkata Knight Riders or Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Sunrisers, of course, are well placed to make it to the play-offs but Knight Riders, the hosts, are likely to be knocked out if they lose their last league game.
“We’ve learnt from last year. In the last edition, everyone thought that we’ll get through and ultimately we were the only side that couldn’t qualify,” were Gautam Gambhir’s words earlier this month.
If the team has learnt from last year’s mistakes, they haven’t shown the application on the field. It’s high time Gambhir and his men walk the talk before they run out of steam for the second consecutive year after a promising start.
They have lost the momentum after consecutive losses against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Lions. A lot of the talk ahead of Kolkata’s extended home leg revolved around how the team hasn’t been given any home advantage vis-a-vis the tracks offered to them at the Eden Gardens. However, they can’t shy away from the fact that their execution has been poor in the latter half.
Scratchy death bowling, patchy performances from the middle-order and openers not clicking, in the second phase, have all played a part in Knight Riders fighting for a spot in the Top 4. There’s still hope that the Knight Riders will just cross the line even after a loss but, after last year’s disappointment, the think tank wouldn’t want to leave anything to chance. Rain permitting, of course.
Sunrisers, on the other hand, are more than likely to go through even if they lose this clash considering their positive net run rate of 0.355. But after the last-ball loss against Delhi Daredevils, David Warner and his men aim to polish off any rough edges ahead of the business-end of the tournament.
Warner has led from the front with 640 runs while Shikhar Dhawan has somewhat regained his mojo and accumulated 412 runs. The middle-order though is as shaky as it can get. The other batsmen haven’t been able to cross the 150-run mark and that shows how heavily dependent the team is on their openers. Fielding is another aspect that let the team down but that could be considered just one off day on the field considering the team has managed to set high standards so far.
Teams:
Kolkata Knight Riders (From): Robin Uthappa(w), Gautam Gambhir(c), Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Suryakumar Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Jason Holder, Sunil Narine, Morne Morkel, Ankit Rajpoot, Jaydev Unadkat, Chris Lynn, Colin Munro, Sheldon Jackson, Andre Russell, Rajagopal Sathish, Manan Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Brad Hogg, Kuldeep Yadav, Shaun Tait
Sunrisers Hyderabad (From): David Warner(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Deepak Hooda, Yuvraj Singh, Moises Henriques, Eoin Morgan, Naman Ojha(w), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Karn Sharma, Barinder Sran, Mustafizur Rahman, Abhimanyu Mithun, Siddarth Kaul, Ben Cutting, Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Aditya Tare, Tirumalsetti Suman, Bipul Sharma, Ashish Reddy, Vijay Shankar, Ricky Bhui
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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