India, closely followed by South Africa, are favourites to win the world T20 tournament that kicked off in England on Friday.

The odds for Dhoni’s boys on Sportingbet are 3/1 followed by South Africa at 100/30 and Australia at 9/2. Ladbrokes, though, has listed both India and South Africa as favourites with odds of 3/1. Australia are third with odds of 5/1.

But punters in India are favouring Australia ahead of India. In fact, even South Africa and New Zealand are ahead of India in the favourites’ list. In India, the odds on Australia winning the tournament are 10/3 while South Africa have odds of 10/4 and New Zealand have 10/6. India are fourth in the list with odds 10/8.

Explaining why MS Dhoni’s men are not the favourites with local punters, a bookie blamed the scheduling of the Indian Premier League (IPL). “It was a wrong time to hold the IPL,” the bookie, who insisted that he not be identified as he is a criminal under Indian law, said. “Because of the length of the tournament, India has taken a beating in the betting market.”

Meanwhile, all-rounder Andrew Symonds’s absence has dealt a big blow to Australia’s chances of winning the world T20 tournament with the odds changing from 4/1 to 5/1.
Besides betting on individual matches, events like the toss, and top runscorer and wicket-taker, bets have been placed for the batsman who is most likely to hit the ball over the pavilion at Lord’s. West Indies opener Chris Gayle is the favourite followed by Virender Sehwag.

What the odds are
Ladbrokes  Sportingbet
India 3/1 3/1
SAfrica 3/1 100/30
Australia 5/1 9/2
New Zealand 7/1 8/1
Sri Lanka 9/1 8/1
England 9/1 9/1
Pakistan 9/1 9/1
West Indies 14/1 14/1