IN THE latest controversy to hit the Indian Premier League (IPL), Shahrukh Khan (franchise-owner of Kolkata Knight Riders) was told that he was not allowed to sit in the players’ dugout during any IPL match. That the objection to Shahrukh’s presence near his team members during the match came from the International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption officials, did not go unnoticed.

Though the IPL authorities have subsequently decided to allow a franchise-owner to stay in his or her team’s dugout and allow four visitors (one at a time) to enter and remain inside for 15 minutes’ duration, the incident underscores the threat the IPL tournament faces from bookies.

A bookie (short for bookmaker) is either an organisation or an individual which/who takes bets from people and pays the winners depending upon the outcome of the event betted on. Betting is prevalent in sports such as horse-racing, greyhound racing, football, tennis, golf and cricket.

In cricket, one can bet on the outcome of the match (win, loss or draw/tie), the toss, top scorer in the match or each team, top bowler in the match or each team; batting order, the manner of the dismissal of a batsman, total innings score, runs that will be conceded in the next over (odd, even, or more or less than the previous over) and so on. Betting is also conducted online.

Since, huge amounts are at stake in betting, the bookies, especially the ones who operate illegally, may sometimes approach players or officials concerned to fix the outcome of what is betted on. Fixing the outcome of a match involves a vast network of connections. On-field actions, such as, which bowler would open the attack, the manner of dismissal and runs conceded in a certain over, can be easily fixed by the players or officials involved.

In other words, match-fixing or fixing the outcome of something betted on, is an illegal agreement between a player/match official and a bookie.

While betting on cricket matches is legal in a few countries like England, it has not been accorded legal status in India. However, since cricket is followed with religious fervour and missionary zeal in the subcontinent, it enjoys a cult status, with the accruals thereof running into billions of dollars. Naturally, betting is rife in India and is a booming industry.

Plain speaking, India is the nerve centre of cricket. It is where the action as well as the money is. Also, India is home to the world’s first and only cricket league, the IPL. An entity and event like IPL, involves money running into billions, over and above that, high-flying corporate houses and celebrities. The hugely successful launch of the first season of the IPL is bound to bring, if it has not already brought, legions of bookies to the Indian shores. Shahrukh may angrily ask, “I have paid my players to win. Will I pay them now to lose? This is illogical...,” when stopped from interacting with players at the dugout during the match. But, the fact is nobody is above board and nobody can remain immune to the ugly amount of money involved. There is no guarantee that a franchise-owner would not enter into a ‘deal’ with the bookie-underworld syndicate to offset the monetary losses. After all, doesn’t the former BCCI and ICC honcho, Jagmohan Dalmiya find himself neck-deep in corruption cases?

This is precisely why betting should be legalised in a country like India, which has emerged as the financial capital of the cricket world. Also, it is time the Indian government gave up its ostrich-like approach to betting and opened its eyes to the stark realities. Though betting is illegal in India, nothing has stopped it from emerging as the most thriving industry in the country in the past two decades. While three-fourths of all illegal betting in cricket take place in India, its Asian neighbours Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh account for a significant percentage of the remaining one-fourth.

Mumbai is known, among bookies, as the betting capital of the cricket (under)world. While the final between India and Australia in the last cricket world cup reportedly attracted $500 million worth of bets, a One Day International (ODI) between traditional rivals, India and Pakistan, could easily see the wager touch the one billion dollar mark.

That even players from the subcontinent indulge in betting, is one of the worst-kept secrets of cricket. Betting is difficult to detect because the transactions are done in a hush-hush manner, and when the bookies face threat from law agencies, they just go underground and continue their operations from there till the coast is clear.

These are some of the reasons, which have forced a few legal experts, cricket officials and players to recommend legalising betting in India.

Legalising cricket betting has many advantages. First, it helps, to a large extent, in eliminating doubts about the fairness of the result of a match or an official decision during the match. For example, if betting had been legalised, Rajasthan Royals’ meek surrender to Mumbai Indians in an IPL match on May 7, 2008 and the row over some of the contentious decisions handed out by Suresh Shastri, the third umpire for the IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab on May 21, 2008, would not have raised eyebrows in a nation that is still being haunted by the spectre of match-fixing in cricket.

More importantly, since cricket betting involves huge amounts of money, the government can earn a lot of tax revenue from cricket through entertainment and other taxes. Right now, cricket betting in India is opaque and shrouded in mystery. If it is made legal and transparent, it not only reduces the possibility of match-fixing, but also helps the government in detecting match-fixing when the betting odds are abnormally lop-sided. Also, when the government has rules and regulations in place to govern something, it stands a better chance of supervising and controlling that activity; this holds true for betting as well.

However, the government’s fear that betting would encourage people to indulge in gambling is unfounded. If it is so, people should be taking to booze when there is no prohibition, which we know is not the case. For example, legalising betting has not led to large-scale gambling in England or Australia. Also, corruption in cricket can be fought with the cooperation of legally registered bookies.

IPL has successfully corporatised cricket in India. The involvement of corporate houses and cine stars in the game shows that cricket, while being a sport for many, is also a business for a few.

As long as this business is conducted in a fair and transparent manner, it is going to benefit one and all. IPL has shown that cricket is also a commodity that can successfully be marketed. It is now for the government to initiate measures to regulate this business and take advantage of the money that it is raking in by legalising betting.