Bookies lose Rs.35,000 crore after police crackdown

New Delhi, (IANS): With a pan-India crackdown on betting rackets, Delhi bookies have suffered a whopping loss of Rs.35,000 crore as most of them have either wind up their business or have gone underground after the spot fixing in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The business was worth Rs.50,000 crore at the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL), but within a week, with the arrest of three Rajasthan Royals cricketers, it has been reduced to Rs.15,000 crore, Delhi Police sources told IANS.

According to police officials, with the authorities cracking down on the betting racked in major cities, including Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Chennai, betting syndicates have stopped taking wagers. Even the hawala operators have gone missing.

Following the crackdown on spot fixing scandal, Delhi bookies are facing a huge loss of Rs.35,000 crore as they have stopped spot fixing and gone underground, sources said Thursday.

"Spot fixing has been stopped but the money is used in match fixing in the IPL match," a Delhi Police official said.

Around 1,500 bookies are still operating in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR) areas, including Gurgaon.

Delhi's north and central areas like Model Town, Malkaganj, Rohini, Karol Bagh, Lahori Gate, Chandani Chowk, and east and west areas like Tilak Nagar, Rajauri Garden and Preet Vihar are famous for betting rackets.

Delhi Police have put some of the well known bookies under surveillance.

Delhi Police were the first to expose the spot fixing scandal by arresting S. Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan and 11 bookies in a post-midnight operation in Delhi, Mumbai and Ahemdabad May 16.

Read More

Warriors' withdrawal a smart business move

Opting out.Pune Warriors' withdrawal from the Indian Premier League is a smart busiess move that will save the Sahara group Rs. 400 crore annually, a Business Standard report has claimed. 

The savings have been estimated keeping in mind Sahara's departure from the Twenty20 league and the assumption that they will not re-bid to sponsor the Indian cricket team when the contract ends in December. 

Huge losses
The company is expected to incur losses to the tune of Rs. 100 crore this year from its IPL franchise. Sahara had earlier agreed to pay a massive Rs 1,700 crore to buy Pune Warriors in 2010 for a period of 10 years, the report stated.  So far as sponsoring the National team is concerned, Sahara had paid Rs. 661 crore since renewing the contract with the BCCI in 2010.

From the current IPL, Sahara will earn Rs. 110-115 crore revenue, including profits from broadcasting revenue (Rs 55-60 crore), in-stadia ticketing (22 crore) and team sponsorship (Rs. 25-30 crore). BCCI, however, was yet to pay even the first instalment of the broadcast share money for this season.

Payouts
Sahara had to shell out Rs. 170 crore annually as payment for the Pune Warriors franchise. There had been rumblings of a split regarding the payment of this annual amount even last year. Sahara had argued that the number of matches each team had to play in the IPL League had been reduced by BCCI, cutting their avenues for revenue.  Sahara paid Rs. 55 crore as the first instalment this year, and then ceased all payments until arbitration was done. 

Sahara made an alternative offer to pay 15-20 per cent more than what the Sun group had paid for the Hyderabad franchisee this year (Rs 850 crore). This would have enabled Subrata Roy's enterprise to cut their burden annually by about Rs. 70 crore. But BCCI chose to encash Sahara’s bank guarantee. Sahara's payments also include Rs. 30 crore on player fees. The group has paid two instalments and Rs.10 crore remain in dues, The total cost of maintaining a team annually is about Rs.200 crore.

Read More

Tendulkar out of IPL with hand injury

New Delhi, (IANS): Sachin Tendulkar will not take further part in the Indian Premier League owing to an injury on his left hand, his team Mumbai Indians said on Wednesday.

Tendulkar, who did not play the Qualifier I against Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday, has been ruled out of action for three weeks, according to a Mumbai Indians statement.

"Sachin Tendulkar has injured his left wrist and hand while batting in the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on 13th May. On investigation, we have found that there is some swelling in the wrist and around one of the tendons of his left hand," said the statement.

"He is currently under rehab and is progressing well. The normal recovery time for this injury is around three weeks, however rehab results in the past nine days have shown reasonable improvements and we are hopeful to get him back in action as soon as possible."

Mumbai Indians lost to Super Kings and now take on the winner of the Eliminator at the Eden Gardens Friday for a spot in the final.

Mumbai Indians pacer Dhawal Kulkarni also played his last match of IPL6.

"Dhawal has sustained a side-strain during the game against Kings XI Punjab in Dharamshala on 18th May. He will take about six weeks to recover completely and has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament," the statement added.

Read More

Will 'Champions' win back the fans?

Mumbai, May 23 -- When the first ICC Champions Trophy was played 13 seasons ago, the Men in Blue were grappling with the fixing menace. On the eve of the last edition, set to begin within a week in England, Indian cricket is again mired in the same controversy.

It was in 2000 that the infamous match-fixing scandal broke out, which led to the end of the careers of some prominent names, including Mohammad Azharuddin. Since last week, the sport is in the news for the spot-fixing scandal linked to the Indian Twenty20 League. Ironically, the Delhi Police unearthed the scandal on both occasions.

The timing of the tournament proved to be a saving grace then. Led by newly-appointed captain Sourav Ganguly, the team went on to play brilliant cricket in Kenya to reach the final and win back the faith of the fans.

This time MS Dhoni's men will have to come up with a similar show to resurrect the fortunes of the sport. The key position of managing the team in the inaugural one-day tournament had fallen upon former India opener Anshuman Gaekwad. And, he cannot help but relate to the similarities. Recalling the time when he was approached to take over, Gaekwad admitted he was hesitant initially.

The feat Sachin never got praise for

"Being removed the previous year from the same position had hurt me. I was reluctant and resisted. But the circumstances were extraordinary and I accepted the job for the sake of Indian cricket," said Gaekwad.

"There was so much pressure. I had to be very careful of the movement of the players, what they are doing, saying.There was no support staff, like now. I spoke to the Board secretary JY Lele, that no player be allowed to talk to the media. I would be the only one. That's how we avoided controversies and kept everyone together."

The catalyst for the turnaround was the team's performance against Australia in the quarterfinal. It was like David slaying Goliath for Australia were the reigning world champions. "Once in Nairobi, everything fell in place. We had two new faces in the team - Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan - and they were an instant hit. Their brilliance acted as a catalyst in lifting the performance of the team. "Zaheer was consistently bowling at around 145kmp and Yuvraj became an overnight star after his match-winning innings of 84 (80 balls) against Australia."

It was followed by another stunning win over South Africa in the semifinals and the mood back home had changed with cricket rising in the popularity charts. "We returned to a warm welcome and it looked like everything had been washed away," said Gaekwad.

Source: Hindustan Times

Read More