Click to play videoNew Delhi: When Pakistan lost there do or die encounter against Ireland, it was a huge loss for Pakistani fans. But for bookies it was a loss, which they would relish.
With odds of 500:1 on the match, Rs 10,000 bet in favour of Ireland netted Rs 50 lakh.
The game of bat and ball is now all about money. Rs 100 invested in the stock market for two years will grow 20 per cent. A real estate investment will double. But if as a cricket player you agree to fix a match your earnings can be 100 times - a sum hard to resist.
Conservative estimates put the match fixing racket at around Rs 90,000 crore. Everyone wants a slice of the action, including India's most wanted criminal Dawood Ibrahim.
Believed to be in Pakistan, Dawood controls most of the betting racket, run mainly from Dubai, Mumbai and Karachi. His punters carry out his orders all across India.
How does betting take place? A bookie will take on a new customer only on the recommendation of an old one. A new customer gets a password and a nickname, so his real identity is hidden.
“We give a code name to every one. If you wear a cap you will be called Sanjay Topi. Everyone is given a different,” one bookie said.
The odds keep changing, sometimes after each ball. A customer and a bookie stay connected virtually through the 8-10 hour match. Former players are often the main source of information what could be the unfolding scenario.
This isn't crickets first tryst with betting. In 1660 the game was made popular by gamblers.
In the 20th century, it seems bookies have overtaken this gentleman's game. Hansie Cronje was the first wicket and the lovers of the game hope Woolmer is the last.
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