Cricket, IPL, Esports and the Reality of Online Betting in India

India is one of the world’s most passionate sports betting markets – cricket betting alone has generated billions in annual wagers for years. But 2026 brought the most significant legal change this market has ever seen, and the honest picture today is very different from even six months ago. This guide explains what actually changed, what it means practically, and why we’re not recommending any offshore operator to Indian readers right now.

The Legal Landscape: What You Need to Know in 2026

For years, online sports betting in India sat in a genuine legal grey area – the colonial-era Public Gambling Act of 1867 didn’t address online platforms, and offshore operators exploited that gap while state-level rules varied widely.

That changed on 1 May 2026. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act (PROGA), passed by Parliament in August 2025, came into force as a nationwide ban on all real-money online gaming and betting – including offshore sports betting platforms, and including formats previously treated as legal “games of skill,” such as real-money fantasy sports. This is a genuinely sweeping law: it doesn’t just target betting specifically, it bans real-money online gaming as a category.

Enforcement has been real and immediate, not symbolic. Authorities have blocked hundreds of illegal betting and gaming websites and frozen thousands of associated bank accounts since the law took effect, and criminal penalties – including jail time – now apply to operators running unregistered real-money platforms.

Is this settled law? Not entirely. PROGA’s constitutional validity is currently being challenged before the Supreme Court of India, so the legal picture could still shift. But as it stands today, this is the operative law, not a proposal.

OddsMint’s position: Given this, we don’t currently recommend an offshore operator for Indian readers. This isn’t a licensing technicality the way it is in some of our other country guides — it’s an active national prohibition with real criminal enforcement. We’re not going to frame offshore betting as a routine option while that’s the legal reality. We’ll revisit this page if the Supreme Court challenge changes the picture.

Cricket Betting in India: The Market That Drives Everything

Cricket is not just India’s most popular sport – it is one of the primary reasons the Indian online betting market exists at all. The Indian Premier League (IPL), international Test matches, ODIs and T20Is generate betting volumes that dwarf every other sport in the country combined. Regardless of the current legal picture, this context is worth understanding even if we’re not pointing you toward a place to bet right now.

IPL Betting

The IPL is the world’s most valuable cricket league. Ten franchises, 74 matches across two months, and a format built for in-play drama – short boundaries, high scores, sudden momentum shifts – historically made it the single most active betting market in the country. Markets typically covered match winner, top batsman, top bowler, total runs, and tournament outrights.

International Cricket

India’s international calendar – bilateral series, the World Test Championship, ICC events including T20 and ODI World Cups – has always generated year-round betting interest, with ICC events in particular drawing attention from international operators recognising the size of the Indian audience.

Esports Betting in India

India’s esports scene is genuinely large and growing – BGMI (the Indian version of PUBG Mobile) has built a huge competitive audience, alongside strong CS2, Valorant and FIFA followings in urban centres.

Worth being precise about the distinction PROGA actually draws here: watching, following and playing esports is unaffected – the law explicitly permits esports and social gaming that doesn’t involve real-money wagering. What’s caught by the ban is betting real money on esports outcomes, the same as any other sports betting. So the esports scene itself isn’t going anywhere, but wagering on it through an offshore operator carries the same legal exposure as cricket or football betting does right now.

A Note on India’s Rapidly Changing Regulatory Environment

India’s approach to digital regulation has historically moved fast once the government decides to act, the crypto sector is the clearest parallel, going from grey area to a heavily taxed, tightly controlled activity almost overnight in 2022. Online betting has now followed a similar path with PROGA.

Where this goes next is genuinely open. The Supreme Court challenge could narrow or overturn parts of the law. Enforcement could tighten further. Or, as the Law Commission of India itself recommended back in 2018, the country could eventually move toward a regulated, taxed betting model rather than a blanket ban – but that’s not the current legal reality, and we’re not going to suggest otherwise.

For now: the honest, current position is that real-money online betting is nationally prohibited in India, enforcement is active, and we’ll update this page with changes as they happen.