By IANS
Brisbane : Australian spin king Shane Warne is too old and too slow, according to the bookmakers who have framed the first betting market on the millionaire Indian Premier League, media here reported Thursday.
Jaipur franchise, which has also signed other old legs like Justin Langer besides Warne, are $12 (1:12) outsiders to win the revolutionary Twenty20 India Premier League (IPL) in April.
Hyderabad are the early betting favourites at $4 (4:1) following the player auction where they signed big-hitters Andrew Symonds for $1.35 million and Adam Gilchrist for $700,000.
“Even if Symonds doesn’t play – because of the Pakistan tour – Hyderabad has still got plenty of lusty hitters,” Lasseters head bookie Gerard Daffy was quoted as saying in The Courier Mail.
“The only thing stopping them from being a whole lot shorter in betting is question marks over Symonds’ availability,” he said.
Chennai, which spent the most money for Indian one-day captain M.S. Dhoni and also have Muttiah Muralitharan and Matthew Hayden, are the next favourites.
Around $91 million is already bet globally on 50-over games – with legal and illegal bookies – and the 20-over IPL competition will spark an unprecedented betting splurge.
However, it remains to be seen how many Australian punters will take the IPL to heart. The competition starts in April, clashing with the football season, and games start very late at night, Australia time.