Feature
Steve Smith, David Warner to miss final stage of IPL as they will leave respective teams
New Delhi: Australian batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner are likely to leave their respective IPL teams by the end of this month to attend their national training camp from May 2 after being drafted into the squad for the upcoming World Cup.
Smith and Warner are currently playing for Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad respectively in the IPL after serving their 12-month ban for their role in the ball-tampering scandal that rocked Australian cricket last year.
The two were recalled to the national team after Australia named their 15-member squad for World Cup beginning May 30 in England and Wales.
“The fifteen-player squad for the ICC world cup will assemble in Brisbane for a training camp at the National Cricket Centre on May 2,” Cricket Australia said.
“The training camp will include three practice matches between Australia XI and New Zealand XI at Allan Border Field.”
While Warner has been in red-hot form for Sunrisers, holding the orange cap with 400 runs, which includes a century and four fifties, Smith has found the going tough for Rajasthan, having scored just 186 runs in seven matches.
They are likely to miss a couple of matches for their respective franchises, besides the knockout stage in case the teams make it to the play-offs.
Steve Smith, David Warner likely to leave their respective IPL teams by end of this month:
Rajasthan will play Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 30 before meeting Delhi Capitals in their last league game on May 4, while Sunrisers will be up against Mumbai and RCB on May 2 and May 4 respectively.
Seamer Jason Behrendorff and all-rounder Marcus Stoinis, who were also named in the World Cup squad, are also expected to leave Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively by the end of the month to attend the camp.
While Jason is likely to miss two scheduled Mumbai matches on May 2 and May 5 against SRH and Kolkata Knight Riders, Stoinis might leave a little early considering RCB’s dismal run in the IPL this season.
Stoinis played a crucial cameo of 28 runs off 16 balls to help RCB register their first win this season when they defeated Kings XI Punjab by eight wickets.
RCB will have to win the next seven matches to salvage any chances of making it to the play-offs. The team has just one league match next month against Sunrisers on May 4.
Among others, pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile, who also plays for RCB, has already been ruled out of the IPL following an injury and South Africa’s Dale Steyn has been drafted into the squad.
Australia opens their World Cup title defence against Afghanistan on June 1 in Bristol.
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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