The ICC Champions Trophy 2017 will start on Thursday and so will the betting season. The Champions Trophy will see the world’s best eight cricket teams battle for supremacy. Bookies predict India to beat Pakistan and England to win the Champions Trophy.
Advertisement
England lost a rain-hit final in Birmingham against the Indian cricket team in the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. England have endured plenty of limited-overs anguish in major tournaments over the years but they have a golden opportunity to claim a first ICC Champions Trophy on home soil.
ALSO READ : Anil Kumble leaks team information on WhatsApp
According to the bookies, England is going to clinch the Champions Trophy this year and Indians are going to end up triumphant in their fixture against their arch rivals Pakistan.
Overall, bookies are offering odds of Rs 4 on England (for a rupee’s bet), Rs 4.4 for Australia, Rs 4.7 for South Africa and Rs 5.9 for India to win the tournament. Bangladesh stands the least favourite to win with Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand above them, respectively.
The Golden Rule for betting is lower the odds, the greater is the chance of a team winning. Thus, if someone invests a sum of Rs 1000 on England with the odds of Rs 4, the person will go on to win 4000 by the end of the tournament if England clinches the trophy. However, if someone invests the same amount on Bangladesh, who are the least favourites, he or she will go on win a sum of Rs 6,50,000.
David Warner (Rs 10) tops the bet for the most number of runs in the tournament followed by the Indian captain Virat Kohli (Rs 11) and Australian captain Steven Smith (Rs 12). England’s Joe Root (Rs 11.5) and South Africa’s AB De Villiers (Rs 14.5) stand fourth and fifth among the top run getters. Australian pacers dominate the bowlers’ category. Michael Starc is favourite to take most wickets (Rs 9.8) followed by England’s Adil Rashid and South Africa’s Imran Tahir. Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah is in the fifth position (Rs 15).
ALSO READ : Watch the new ‘Mauka Mauka’ ad before India vs Pakistan
These odds fluctuate constantly in the run-up to any match and are finalised the day before the encounter. The weather, pitch condition and injuries to players are among the factors that influence these odds.
The rates offered by the bookies indicate that they are expecting England and Australia from Group A to qualify for the semi-finals with India and South Africa from Group B.
England and Australia are favourites to reach the final of the ICC Champions Trophy on June 18.
But for now, all eyes will be on the Champions Trophy Group B blockbuster in Birmingham on June 4 (Sunday). India clash with Pakistan and bookies are tipping Virat Kohli’s men to beat their arch-rivals. Bookies have placed the odds of 50 paisa on India with Rs 1.44 on Pakistan. With India looking much stronger than Pakistan, it seems the bookies have played a safe bet.
It will be interesting to see how the World Cup of the champions plays out and if the bookies have made the right choice. In the IPL, the bookies went horribly wrong while predicting RCB to lift the trophy before the tournament. Let’s see what happens this time around.
