Indian news round-up

With just ten days to go for the start of the first Test of the Australian tour of India, betting shops in Australia have started accepting wagers with many Indian bookies favouring the visiting side.

Press Trust of India, quoting Gerard Daffy of CentreBet, one of the largest and oldest licensed sports betting companies in Australia says "We have laid the drawn series at 2/1 with a bet of $7500 from India. The Aussies are 4/5 and India 9/2 to win the best of three series."

The bets on individual performances are wide open which is reflected in the odds and also the spread of early money. Master batsman Sachin Tendulkar is 7/2 favourite to become the top-scorer. Bets on Steve Waugh (8/1) and Ricky Ponting (5/1) have attracted in excess of $8000 each while Mark Waugh (9/2) is also starting to attract money now, he said. Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne head the bets to emerge the highest wicket-taker in the series. McGrath shades Warne at 3/1 to 7/2 ahead of Javagal Srinath at 5/1. An Indian punter has placed $2000 on Srinath but Australian bookies have gone for Damien Fleming (5/1) and Colin Miller (14/1), Daffy added.

Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Bengal registered wins in the league matches of the 46th National Schools cricket tournament for Under-19 boys being played at different grounds in Vijayawada on Thursday and Friday.

While Madhya Pradesh defeated Assam by 54 runs, Delhi defeated Punjab by seven wickets in the 30-over matches. In other matches, Bengal defeated Maharashtra by three runs while hosts Andhra Pradesh lost to Bengal by four wickets.