Orchards turn betting dens

Visakhapatnam: Now the mango and cashew net orchards in between Vizag and Vizianagaram have turned venues for the cricket betting in the region. With the beginning of the ICC T-20 World Cup cricket, the organisers have shifted the betting venues following the police raids on the apartments and individuals houses in the city. The punters from parts of East Godavari and Krishna districts are also coming to city’s outskirts to test their

luck starting with ball-to-ball and match-to-match basis to mint money. Sources said other than  winning team, bets are placed on every ball, phases of the match like how many runs will be scored or wickets will fall in the first five overs, power play, slag overs besides bets are also placed on performance by individual players. Like in the India vs Pakistan match to be held on March 19, India is the favorite while Pakistan is the underdog as per the betting organisers. The rates for this match likely 20:30, this means that if a person bets one rupee in favour of India and if the team goes on to win, he will get Rs 20 in return. If Pakistan wins, the winner will get Rs 25 in return.

The city police are suspecting that the bets worth crores of rupees will be placed during the ICC T020 World Cup in Vizag region only. Though India have a great track record against the Pakistan in World Cup cricket as India keeping winning against Pakistan, this time some puntersare  likely to put bets on Pakistan team. Police said that the betting operations have been taking place from the mango farms on the city’s outskirts, where there is mobile phone, laptop with Internet connectivity.