Cricket in India is extremely popular, but we are sure that you are already aware of this fact. In fact, this sport is such a big part of Indian culture that it is not too farfetched to say that cricket in India is more of a religion than a sport. If you were walk around the streets of India trying to find someone who does not care about cricket, we are certain that your search will be in vain. As well as watching and playing cricket, Indians love to bet on it as well and in this article, we are going to take a look at Indian cricket betting sites as well as the history of cricket in India and the types of gambling that is legal in India.
Cricket in India
The very first thing that we shall look at in this article is the history of this great sport in India. The British came to India at the beginning of the 18th century and they brought cricket with them. Whenever they had a bit of time to kill, they would keep themselves entertained by playing cricket and the locals would gather round and watch them play this intriguing sport.
It was 1721 when the first cricket matched took place in India and it was a game between the British Army and the English settlers. The British Empire would soon spread throughout the country, giving more and more Indians a taste for this fascinating game. They were so awed by it that in 1792 the Calcutta Cricket Club came into being, which actually gives it the distinction of being the second oldest cricket club in existence.
Cricket’s popularity continued to increase and the Parsi community created the Oriental Cricket Club in 1848. They were the ones who sent the first cricket team from India to the United Kingdom, but they struggled in conditions that were completely alien to them. Despite this, the British cricketers that they played against could see how talented they were, so they decided to send a touring team to India in 1889. They came up against a very good Parsi side and lost by 4 wickets, which was the first time an English team had been defeated on Indian soil.
Lord Harris, who was Bombay’s governor at the time, could see the progress that they were making in cricket and opted to set up a yearly game between a British team and a Parsi team to help build the game in India even more. A team full of Indians took a tour of England in 1911, and three decades later India played their very first international game.
Are All Cricket Betting Sites Safe?
This is a question that cricket betting fans ask quite often when it comes to cricket betting sites, and the answer to this is unfortunately no. Like with everything in life that has become extremely popular, there will always be those who try to use popularity to try and con unsuspecting people out of their hard-earned money. Thankfully, you are more likely to come across legitimate online cricket sites than dodgy ones that are trying to steal your money. However, despite this, you still need to be vigilant when you are looking at cricket betting sites to sign up with.
So, how can you tell whether online cricket sites are legitimate or not? Well, you will be glad to find out that it is quite simple. All that you need to do is check who they have been licensed by. If you find out that they hold a license from online gambling regulators such as the Malta Gaming Authority, Curacao Gaming Authority, or the United Kingdom Gambling Commission, then you can be 100% certain that they are legitimate cricket betting sites. These gambling regulators are some of the best in the business and have worked very hard to build the reputation that they have, so they are definitely not going to risk all of that by giving their license to dodgy online cricket sites.
Furthermore, you should always scroll to the bottom of the homepage and check whether they have an ecogra certificate. If you come across one, then you can be sure that the site is legitimate and 100% fair for you to play at.
Keeping Your Money Safe Online
Keeping your money safe online is pretty easy - all that you have to do is make sure that you pay attention to what we just told you above. Always sign up to cricket betting sites that are displaying a license from a reputable gambling regulator as well as an ecogra certificate. If you do not do this and you end up signing up with dodgy online cricket sites, then the only person you will have to blame if any of your money goes missing is yourself.
Which Are the Safest Sites for Cricket Betting Online?
When it comes to cricket betting sites, it is no exaggeration to say that not all online cricket sites have been created in equal measure. There are some bookies that Indians can sign up with that are much safer and better than others, and below we are going to take a look at some of these.
One of the safest and best sportsbooks for Indians to do some cricket betting in 2021 is https://www.10cric.com/. This site is completely dedicated to Indian sports bettors, which is why it has become one of the most popular sportsbooks in the country. They hold a license from the Curacao Gaming Authority, so you do not have to have any worries as to whether the money that you deposit and win with them is safe. Since they cater mostly for Indians, it should not come as much of a shock to you to find out that they have many different cricket betting markets as well as some of the best odds around. Alongside cricket, you can also bet on other sports that are popular in India such as kabaddi, horse racing, and football. To make things even better, they have very good customer support agents, will provide you with many different payment options, and have a quality mobile gambling app.
Betway is another quality sports betting site that you can bet with without having to worry about whether any of your hard-earned money is going to go missing - this is because they hold a license from the Malta Gaming Authority. They have been around for 12 years, and in this time they have worked extremely hard to become one of the most popular bookmakers in the world. Just like 10Cric, they offer their players a wide variety of cricket markets as well as tasty odds. They also have quality customer support, more payment methods than you can shake a stick at, and a fantastic mobile app that you really should download if you open an account with them.
Another extremely safe bookie for Indians to open an account with so that they can bet on cricket is Sportsbet.io as it has a license from the Curacao Gaming Authority. They have only been in existence for 4 years, but during this time they have shown the sports betting world that they have what it takes to stick around for decades. If you opt to register with them, then you can bet on at least 30 sports, with cricket being a main one. When it comes to betting on cricket, you can find all the markets you could ever wish for and they are not tight when it comes to the odds that they offer their customers. At the time of writing, they do not have an app, but their mobile site works perfectly fine with no glitches. To cap it all off, they offer many different payment options and have extremely helpful customer care agents.
Legal Betting in India
When it comes to gambling online in India, the only types of gambling that are legal throughout the country are horse racing and lotteries. There are some states, such as Sikkim and Goa, where many different types of gambling are permitted, and they even have land-based casinos there.
Gambling regulations in India can be a bit confusing as they do not speak about online gambling. This is obviously going to be the case when you come to realise that they Act that they used has been around since before the Internet even came into being. Therefore, Indians are not breaking any laws when they sign up to an online bookmaker, and there are many that now accept players from India as well as Indian rupees.
The Indian government are interested in fully regulating the gambling market across the whole country as they realise how much extra money they can make from it. Additionally, there are so many issues with illegal gambling in the country as well as match-fixing that they feel that if they were to make gambling legal, many of the illegal gambling issues would disappear. Thus, with this in mind, although most of India is relatively legal gambling free at the moment, we are sure that this is something that is going to change in the not-so-distant future so the Indian government can begin making more money.