The IPL season is nearing its end now and it’s all about the finals of the tournament. But just a few years ago, the season was all about betting and spot-fixing. The ghost of match-fixing has haunted Indian cricket for some time now. And what was once a “Gentleman’s Game” is now a sport that has been tainted forever by the monsters of match-fixing and illegal betting.
The second episode of ScoopWhoop’s documentary series ‘CHASE’, in association with Newslaundry, takes you into the murky world of illegal betting in India that remains very much active despite all the efforts taken to end it.
The documentary will show you how things have changed and how cricket transformed into a money-minting business in the age of TV and Internet. And you have a bookie spilling the beans on how this very profitable business of betting on the sport operates.
When he casually quips in the video, ‘Every street has a bookie’, you get an idea of how rampant it has become in India. Betting may be illegal in the country, but the ease with which BetFair – the world’s largest Internet betting exchange – operates here is truly mind-boggling. And if you don’t know how the betting racket in India works, an expert simplifies the process for you.
The bookie, however also raises a pertinent question on whether betting should be legalised in India. Unofficially, it’s a huge business so why shouldn’t the government legalise it to bring in more revenue?
Shantanu Guha Roy, who authored ‘Fixed! Cash and Corruption in Cricket’ also features in the video and explains just how deeply entwined the nexus of bookies and punters is with the game and how this business is a major player in the ‘gentleman’s game’.
Check out the documentary for an eye-opening experience and let us know what you thought in the comments.