The mobile phones sit on chargers 24 hours a day. They are rarely silent. Tonight, somewhere in the world, cricket is being played and somewhere in India someone wants to bet on it and mobile is 24 hours running.
The conversations are curt; bets are laid in the gamblers' shorthand vernacular. Players have obscure nicknames, Sachin Tendulkar is royally known as bona - short man - and the bets are similarly encrypted in case the phones are tapped.
It is difficult to put a size on a black market so estimates vary wildly on how many the bookies business in India is worth.
But a report this week in the business newspaper Mint, quoting senior officials in India's Enforcement Directorate, says at least $US4.36 billion will be gambled in the next two months of cricket.
The allure of betting in India lies in its possibilities, and its immediacy. Bets can be placed on individual batsman, bowlers, single deliveries or overs, who will win the toss, how many sixes a team will hit and million dollar question “Who will win the world cup?”
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