The 11xplay Betting Calendar: Cricket, Football and Tennis Through the Year
Sport doesn’t stop, and that is part of the problem. There is a match on almost every day of the year, which makes it easy to bet on everything and plan nothing. This page is a rough map of the year as it looks from our book: which events bring the busiest markets, roughly when they happen, and one practical note for each. Exact dates change every season, so always check the fixture list before you plan around anything here.
Cricket, season by season
| Event | Usual window | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| IPL | Late March to late May or early June | Two months of nightly games; busiest session markets of the year |
| ICC events (T20 World Cup, Champions Trophy, ODI World Cup) | Varies by year and host | Mixed-strength groups; venue and conditions matter more than reputations |
| India home season | Roughly October to March | Spin-friendly Tests; Test session lines need patience |
| India away tours | Depends on the host; England tours in the northern summer | Swing and seam change powerplay and early-wicket lines |
| Big Bash League (Australia) | December to January | Large grounds at some venues; check the boundary sizes |
| SA20 and ILT20 | Usually January to February | Overlap with Big Bash; plenty of games, less form data |
| PSL (Pakistan) | Has moved between February and May | Check the current schedule each year |
| The Hundred and CPL | Roughly July to September | The Hundred uses 100-ball innings; read market rules carefully |
IPL: the season that needs a plan
Around 70 league games plus playoffs, nearly all in the evening, often two on a weekend. It’s the easiest time of year to overspend, simply because there’s always another match. Set a bankroll for the whole tournament before the first game and split it by week. Our IPL session guide covers how pitch, dew and ground size move the lines, and betting tips covers the staking.
ICC tournaments
Group stages mix strong and weaker teams, and short formats make upsets more common than the prices sometimes suggest. Conditions vary hugely between host countries. A team that dominates on Indian pitches may look very different in the Caribbean or England.
Test cricket
Five days of markets that move slowly, then suddenly. Session lines in Tests reward watching the first hour of each day: how the pitch is behaving, whether the ball is swinging, how the field is set. Rain and bad light rules matter a lot here.
Football
The major European leagues run from about August to May, with the Champions League final at the end of May or early June. Football markets are mostly Match Odds style on our book. International breaks in September, October, November and March pause the club leagues. Big tournaments like the World Cup and the European Championship fall in the northern summer, in different years.
Tennis Grand Slams
- Australian Open: January (hard court, heat can play a part)
- French Open: late May to early June (clay, longer rallies)
- Wimbledon: late June to July (grass, big servers do well)
- US Open: late August to September (hard court, night sessions)
Men’s Grand Slam matches are best of five sets, so early-round favourites are harder to upset than in best-of-three events. In-play prices swing on every break of serve, which is why tennis suits exchange players who understand backing and laying.
Racing
Horse and greyhound racing run through most of the year, with many races a day. Each race takes a few minutes, which makes it one of the fastest ways to lose track of spending. If you play racing, set a separate small budget for it.
Splitting one budget across a year
Here is what a plan can look like for someone who sets aside ₹6,000 for a whole year of betting. The numbers are only an example; use whatever you can comfortably lose.
| Event | Budget | How it’s used |
|---|---|---|
| IPL (about 8 weeks) | ₹3,000 | ₹375 a week; an unused week doesn’t roll over |
| One ICC tournament | ₹1,500 | Only matches involving teams you actually follow |
| India series through the year | ₹1,500 | Split evenly across the series you plan to watch |
When an event’s budget is used up, that event is finished for you, even if the final is still to come. Moving money from one row to another “just this once” is how a year’s budget disappears by May.
Plan the year, not the match
A simple approach: pick the two or three events you actually follow, set a budget for each one before it starts, and skip the rest. You’ll bet on things you understand, and your money lasts the season instead of the first fortnight. Ask the desk for a deposit limit if you want it enforced.
All markets currently open are on the cricket page and in the lobby on the homepage. Betting is for adults aged 18 and over, with money you can afford to lose. Laws differ between Indian states, so check what applies where you live.