I’m going to tell you who we’re backing as our main bet here: the Trinbago Knight Riders. Most people’s reaction to this will be: ahh, but they’re the favourites. And they’d be right. So I’ll kick things off with an explanation about betting on favourites.
It’s very true that here at Bet India when researching online cricket betting markets on top batsmen or top bowlers or man-of-the-match candidates, we’re always keen to take on favourites. Or bet on non-favourites, so to speak. Why?
Two main reasons. The first is related to the actual online betting itself and the value found within it.
I believe greater betting value can be found on outsiders than on favourites because bookmakers pay more attention and are far less generous when offering odds on favourites than they do on outsiders.
They know the money will come in for Virat Kohli for man-of-the-match in an ODI and don’t want to risk huge payouts if he does win. They’re more concerned with him at 7.0 than they are with say Ravindra Jadeja at 16.0.
The second is that you only need to secure a few winners at big odds to be in profit. It’s easier than constantly needing to be backing favourites who go on to win.
Let’s use Kohli as an example again.
If you’re betting Kohli every match at say 3.5 to be India’s top batsman in Tests, you’ll need a high success rate to show a profit.
But you only need to successfully back someone like Ravi Ashwin at about 40.0, Jadeja at 20.0 or Rishabh Pant at 8.0 a couple of times a year to be showing a profit.
But that’s not to say there’s anything wrong with occasionally backing favourites, or second-favourites as the case may be, if the situation is right.
And the situation is very much right here on CPL betting for the winner market with the Trinbago Knight Riders.
Best Odds for the CPL Winner Market
As you can see, Betway have the best odds on CPL 2021 Winner markets – so makes sure you sign up with them before the start of the league! We’re looking at The Knight Riders as our favourite to back, but I also believe that Guyana have a chance to win this year as well.
There’s no doubt that the favourites Trinbago- are the strongest sides in the competition in every aspect of the word. That’s why I was just discussing betting on favourites and why one of those two are our main bet to go all the way in the CPL this year.
Let’s remember that Trinbago have won the competition on four occasions, putting them head and shoulder above everyone else. That included winning it last year where incredibly, they didn’t lose a match all season.
What’s even more impressive is that the Knight Riders played four finals, and won the lot. So it seems to be a case of getting to the final and…winning it.
So not only is this a highly successful team but it’s kept many of its players over the years so they’re certainly used to winning the thing.
Trinbago look beautifully balanced
Lendl Simmons will surely open for the Windies at the T20 World Cup, where he will be captained by Kieron Pollard, one of T20’s great ‘finishers’ and also one of the most experienced players in the world in this format.
Denesh Ramdin has played 100s of times for the Windies in all three formats. The same can be said for Darren Bravo.
Sunil Narine: he’s a bit of an odd case. He’s not quite the spinner he was but he’s still extremely good and has found a new lease of life as a top-order batsman these days, as well.
He’s an odd case because he seems far more concerned in playing in a load of T20 leagues and earning the big bucks, than playing for his country.
But then again, that’s not the Knight Riders’ concern.
Colin Munro is currently out of New Zealand’s plans, but this is a rare case of a man with three international T20 centuries and a further four at domestic T20 level.
Sandeep Lamichhane is still waiting for his chance to show us what he can do in the IPL but he’s a world class mystery spinner.
They also have Kieron Pollard in charge. Results have been a little bit mixed under him for the Windies but his captaincy was excellent in last year’s CPL, when he led the side to glory.
Pollard has played 638 games of T20 in his career. That’s a world record, by the way.
But there’s nothing wrong with also having a bet on a second team at much bigger odds.
With West Indies regulars Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer big assets in Guyana’s middle-order, that’s a good start.
And there are few middle order batsmen as experienced in T20 cricket as Pakistan duo Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik.
At the top of the order there’s the very capable Brandon King and then there’s evergreen veteran spinner Imran Tahir.
That forms a solid spine to the team and the rest are very capable, as well.
Nicholas Pooran is Guyana’s skipper this year. He was the man in charge as the West Indies beat Australia 4-1 in a T20 Series last month and is a hot favourite to take over the captaincy from Kieron Pollard (ironically) in ODIs and T20Is when Pollard gives it up.
Despite never winning the CPL, to be fair to Guyana, they’ve remarkably made five finals, which is one more than Trinbago have. So they’re actually incredibly consistent when it comes to getting to the final: they just can’t seem to win one!
Could this year be any different? You’ll have to wait and see but odds of 6.5 with Betway look very appealing.
