T20 Online Score : Betting App, Gaming, Merchandise and More..

We’ve kept you updated on all the latest on the T20 front and how it’s inspiring changes and new innovation. We thought we’d got it all, but the amazing rate at which products are being dished out into the market, we thought we should do a roundup and keep score on all the latest news that the T20 has created in the online world once again.

Gambling is one of the online gamer’s most addictive passions, be it real poker, blackjack or the infamous lotteries. (Though the US media recently cracked down on poker). Any idea that combines risk with sport (especially in a cricket-crazed nation like India) is sure to hit it off. It is with the hopes of this that Contests2win has launched its virtual betting application Cricket Bookie. Cricket Bookie as an app was first launched on orkut and was earlier named IPL Bookie later changed to Cricketbookie. Now they have extended the app to be on Orkut, Facebook and Myspace – the big 3 on the social media scene (at least in India). C2W claims that this is the first application to be on all three networks i.e. Orkut, Facebook and Myspace. The betting app got an overwhelming 5,00,000 number of transactions between users when on orkut, and over 25,000 active users during the finals of the IPL, it’s a safe bet to say that this app was definitely the most popular app during the IPL and one of the most popular on orkut.

Now the ICC T20 World Cup is expected to be bigger and better with more intense nationalistic participation and a global perspective. On the app, participants can bet on various outcomes, from “Who will win the Toss” to “Who will win the match”; it also includes the harder to guess “What will happen on the first ball of the match”, “Will there be a maiden over in the match” and “How many sixes in the over”. By the end of the season, bettors can win prizes as well as the ego-boost that their predictions were accurate. Like Raj Menon said in a press release, ‘Every Indian is an armchair expert on cricket and has point of view for any cricket situation’. Thousands of bettors have already registered and as the tempo increases, more are sure to pitch in.

There’s more on the gaming scene though, Dream11 was launched by its parent company. With the upcoming T20 World Cup, Dream11.com offers cricket enthusiasts an opportunity to create their Dream11 by selecting their favourite cricketers from across the world, in a graphically rich user interface and earn points depending on how those cricketers perform in real life matches. As with the above betting strategy, this banks on every Indian idealising his favourite combo of players that will surely bring home the cup.

Commenting on the idea behind Dream11.com and the potential of Fantasy Cricket as an industry, Harsh Jain, Founder & CMD, said in a recent press release, “Dream11.com was conceptualized to provide users with an exceptional Fantasy Cricket experience. Fantasy Sports is a huge market globally and considering the packed upcoming cricket calendar, we believe that the time is just right for Indian audiences to connect with Fantasy Cricket. We assure our users of the best ever Fantasy Cricket interface and pledge our commitment to constantly innovate in this category.”. On Dreamm11, users can challenge each other to matches. It allows for features like Live Scores, News Updates, Player Profiles, Statistics and Standings. Keeping in sync with the social aspect of gaming, there’s even an Dream11 Web Messenger. Players can also send messages to each other via scraps, and other community features.

While newer players are jumping onto the cricket bandwagon older players like CricketNext.com plan to offer a host of features to impress its users and loyal fans scouring the internet for news, updates and that extra glitz. The interesting features are a graffiti wall for users to cheer for India, an option for video debates where fans can send in recordings of their opinions and post them online, a series of blogs by noted cricket analysts and a stats “genie” for all relevant statistics. The site includes an India Fan Club. “First time users take the test to be a part of the India fan club and register on the website. Fans who successfully take the quiz will get access to all interactive features on the website.”

As with several other sites, it offers an option for users to chat, discuss, ask questions etc. The site also features a “LIVE Text commentary” of all matches. It remains to be seen, in post T-20 perspective which of the innumerable sites for cricket fans takes the lead.

Well if you are the kind who would like to wear your support for team India then too you should not look further than your computer screen as eBay India has started selling T20 Merchandise, or as they phrase it in their press release, “Official Licensed Products of ICC T20 World Cup England 09″. The T20 World Cup merchandise includes jerseys, crew neck t-shirts, kid’s jerseys, caps fan capes, car flags, wrist bands and tattoos. With the merchandise of the home team just a few mouse clicks away, and defending champions India all set to win hearts again, there should be hundreds who will flock to the site so that they may wear their fan-gear while cheering.

So that’s the latest roundup of all the stir that the T-20 has created online. The T20 is making news in a huge way, and we’ll try and keep you updated as the news is being made, and hopefully catch a few matches on TV while we’re at it.