As the group stage of the 2024 IPL heats up, so the outstanding cricketing performances in the current addition continue to mount. Surprise leaders, the Rajasthan Royals continue to lead the way while the Kolkata Knight Riders keep pace with their rivals through a string of consistent performances. 

With the online gambling landscape in India at a crescendo during the tournament, punters are keen to back their favourite franchises and teams as the IPL moves steadily towards its business end. Jamie Wright, a sports betting and slots expert for Techopedia, reminds us of the importance of the right online gambling site and sports betting platform for Indians, which indicates why finding the best IPL odds is essential.  

"Online gambling in India is highly popular. Players across the country regularly log on to play their favourite casino games and bet on the biggest sporting events."

With an influx of new and existing players in India searching for the best odds daily, especially during the IPL, finding these is imperative. At the time of writing, according to the betting sites listed on Techopedia, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), currently third in the IPL log with eight points, are the joint-favourites with the in-form Rajasthan Royals (RR), with odds of 4.5.

Next in the betting is the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at 5.0, with the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SH) at 8.0 and Mumbai Indians (MI) at 9.0 handily placed despite somewhat mixed early results. The Gujarat Titans (GT) at 15.0 and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at 17.0 have started more solidly than Mumbai, sitting above the Indians on the table.

The elite individual performers at this stage of the tournament are also of great interest to bettors, and it is the well-rested Virat Kohli (RCB) who presently wears the Orange Cap as the IPL's top run scorer with 319 runs after six innings. 

Kohli heads up a host of other Indian players, with Rajasthan's Riyan Parag (284) and Sanju Samson (264) following and MI's Rohit Sharma (261) next best. The top non-domestic batsman is KKR's England wicketkeeper Phil Salt, who lies 12th with 191 runs.

Among the bowlers vying for the Purple Cap award for the most wickets, leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (RR) has got the drop on his opposition early on with 11 scalps so far, with his more illustrious compatriot Mumbai's Jasprit Bumrah only one wicket behind. CSK's Bangladeshi left-arm paceman Mustafizur Rahman also has ten wickets, having played one game less than the Indian players above him.

South African pace duo, Punjab King's Kagiso Rabada and Gerald Coetzee (MI) are among four bowlers on nine wickets at this point, with the Dehli Capitals' Khaleel Ahmed and Arshdeep Singh (PBKS) joining them on the tally. 

With much of the IPL tournament still to play and matches coming thick and fast daily, these top run scorers and wicket takers could well have changed by the time this article is published, which is why it makes sense to keep an eye on the bookmakers' odds if you're looking to wager on individual markets. 

Kohli (3.5), Gujarat's Shubman Gill (8.0), Sharma (9.5) and Parag (11.0) lead the Orange Cap betting boards for batters, and bookies expect Bumrah (6.0) to run Chahal (6.0) close in the bowlers' Purple Cap race. Rabada and Coetzee are both favoured to continue their early good form, with odds of 13.0 offered on both.

The race for team and individual honours in 2024's IPL remains tight, with who will end up victorious being tricky to call. Watching the form of the franchises and their players and keeping a close eye on the betting may help to more accurately make these predictions.