Feature
Fans to see India vs Pakistan at Dharamsala in World T20
Mumbai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced that Hosts India will clash against traditional rivals Pakistan in World Twenty20 2016 on March 19 at Dharamsala while the semi-finals of the tournament will be played in New Delhi. The declaration was made in fixtures released today by the International Cricket Council.
The tournament will be staged across eight venues in India from March 8 to April 3. A total of 58 tournament matches, including 35 men’s matches and 23 women’s matches, will be played during the 27-day tournament.
The final will be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on April 3. The women’s semi-finals and final will be followed by the men’s knock-out matches.
India, Pakistan, New Zealand and Australia are clubbed in Group 2 while South Africa, England, the West Indies and Sri Lanka are in Group 1.
Two qualifying teams will join the Super 10s (two groups of five teams) after the first stage of the tournament, which will be held in Dharamsala and Nagpur between March 8 and 13.
The eight teams competing in the qualifying stage have also been split into two groups. Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Ireland and Oman have been slotted into Group A, while Group B comprises Zimbabwe, Scotland, Afghanistan and Hong Kong.
The top team from Group A will join Group 2 of the Super 10s stage, while the qualifier from Group B will be clubbed in Group 1.
The top two sides from each group of the Super 10s will progress to the semi-finals.
India will take on New Zealand on March 15 in Nagpur in the opening match of the Super 10s stage. They will then face Pakistan on March 19, the qualifying team in the group on March 23 in Bengaluru and Australia in Mohali on March 27.
“India is a country where cricket is a religion and not many places can match the passion for the game like India. I am fully confident that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will deliver an outstanding world cricket event, just like the ICC Cricket World Cups in 1987, 1996 and 2011,” ICC chairman and BCCI president Shashank Manohar said here.
“I am sure stadiums like always will be full here for all the matches. With support of the government and others the tournament will be a success,” Manohar said.
The men’s event will carry a total prize money of $5.6 million — an 86 percent increase from the 2014 tournament — while the total prize money for the women’s event is $400,000 — a 122 percent hike.
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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