Bookies favour India to win ICC World Cup 2019, New Zealand least favourite

The first semi-final of the World Cup ICC 2019 gets underway tomorrow with India taking on New Zealand at Old Trafford. Virat Kohli–led Indian team finished at the top of the league table with 15 points to their credit, followed by Australia (14), England (12) and New Zealand (11).

If the bet rates are anything to go by, India is likely to continue with its winning streak and eventually win the ICC World Cup 2019. Leading online betting websites such as Ladbrokes and Betway place the Indian team on top at the end of the tournament. 

The Indian cricket team has won the tournament twice – first in 1983 under Kapil Dev's captaincy and then in 2011, beating Sri Lanka on home soil. They came last in the Super Six stage in the 1999 Cricket World Cup and have been knocked out four times in the Group stage (1975, 1979, 1992 and 2007). 

For the current tournament, Ladbrokes pegs the odds of an outright win by India at 13/8, followed by England (15/8), Australia (11/4) and New Zealand (8/1). Betway on the other hand, too, expects India to be champions for the third time and places the odds at 2.8, followed by England (3), Australia (3.8) and New Zealand (9.5).

Simply put, 13/8 is the fraction the bookie is willing to multiply your stake by.

Mathematically, 13/8 implies 13 divided by 8, or the fraction 1.625. So if you bet on India with the odds currently placed at 13/8, the amount you bet will be multiplied by 13 and then divided by 8. The winnings, in this case, will be the result of the above-mentioned fraction plus the amount you originally bet.

For example, bet money Rs 100,000. Odds: 13/8. Your winnings will be:

(Rs 100,000 x 13)/8 + Rs 100,000 = Rs 262,500

Remember, most websites do charge a small commission on the winnings as well.

Besides these fractions, decimal odds are also used as standard on betting exchanges. For instance, if the Indian team is placed on top with 2.8 on Betway, for every £1 you place on the bet you would have £2.8 returned.

Rohit, Virat among top scorers

Indian opener Rohit Sharma is expected to be the highest run-getter in the tournament (8/13 bet rate on Ladbrokes), followed by Australia's David Warner (11/8) and England's Joe Root (20/1). Indian captain Virat Kohli also figures in the top 5 at a bet-rate of 33/1.

Last week, Rohit Sharma became the batsman with the most number of centuries in a single World Cup. Sharma hit his fifth hundred of the ongoing edition against Sri Lanka in India's last group stage encounter at the Headingly Cricket Ground on Saturday and is just 27 runs shy of being the highest run-getter in a single edition of the ICC World Cup tournament. 

Thus far in the tournament, Sharma has scored a massive 647 runs and another 27 runs will see him breeze past Sachin Tendulkar to become the highest run-scorer in a single edition of the tournament.