In early May, the BCCI and the IPL GL got forced to make an unprecedented decision and postpone the rest of the IPL 2021 season. It had an official end date of May 30th. Of course, the current health crisis in India played a pivotal role in causing these two bodies to make this call, as many foreign players publicly expressed a desire to leave the country out of fear for their safety.

It is a mystery if the remaining matches will get played or if this season will get entirely discarded. Some theories claim that the league may resume in September, moving to either Australia or the UK. However, there is no certainty at this point. What is a fact is that these recent events have led to a spike in interest regarding simulated sports. The simulated reality league, Big Bash League, is now generating massive traction, as it is one of the only available cricket betting options. With the IPL being gone for at least four more months, no doubt betting on simulated cricket will only rise in popularity over the summer.

The Technology Behind Simulated Cricket Leagues

Simulated sports leagues are a new gambling product that mixes artificial intelligence, machine learning, and historical data to produce realistic match results. A legitimate top-level sports statistical service like BetRdar feeds information about real-world teams and players, past confrontations, and player form to an advanced algorithm. This software then mixes that info with data regarding weather/pitch conditions, home-town advantage, and more to generate a game outcome similar to those that would transpire in real life if the two virtually pitted teams met. So, while every simulated event is unpredictable, what happens in it gets mainly guided by facts.

Simulated games last as long as real ones and bettors get treated to the same betting options available for standard cricket markets. They can wager per game and in-play. They can also bet on aspects like team innings runs and over/under final scores. Online sportsbook users can watch the events of the simulated matches take place in a 3D environment. In essence, there is little to distinguish these leagues from real ones, as far as the sports betting experience goes.

The Difference Between Virtual Sports and Simulated Matches

Virtual sports are electronic games inspired by fantasy sports. They first got introduced in 1961, when IMB engineer John Burgeson coded the first fantasy baseball software for the IBM 1620 computer. It made it possible for two teams to play each other using player statistics and random number generation. On the surface, this concept seems eerily similar to that of simulated cricket leagues, and it is. Virtual sports also feature video game-like representations of sporting events. However, they mainly utilize fictional teams and do not rely on real-world data. Random number generation is more responsible for the outcomes here. The teams and individual players used in almost all virtual sports are fictional.

The simplest way to understand these betting options is to think of them as a FIFA game happening with no players active. The software competes against itself using its algorithm and previously supplied subjective player attributes.

Though massive interactive gaming suppliers such as Playtech offer many virtual sports options, they have yet to incorporate in-play betting. They seem to mainly focus on horse/dog racing products, as these are super-popular with casuals. Five5 – Champions League is a famous virtual cricket league that many Indians love, and Virtual Cricket by Edge Gaming is a popular game in this genre.