When the game plays you: Addiction to sports gambling on rise in India

Few seek help for this addiction. Worse still, many are unaware that it is an addiction requiring professional treatment

“My entire generational wealth was wiped out,” says Shreya (name changed on request) woefully, revealing she lost nearly ₹8 crore to cricket betting between 2022 and 2024.

 

What began as a love for the sport while studying in the UK quickly spiralled into a full-blown gambling addiction that consumed her finances, strained relationships, and shattered her mental health.

 

“I stopped seeing it as a sport. It became about money, loans, and constant access to betting platforms,” she recalls.

 

Now in her late 20s — after enduring family rifts, mounting debts, spending a year in a Mumbai rehabilitation centre, and abstaining