By Kashif Qamar of the BBC Urdu service

Cricket is a passion in India with extraordinary public interest in the game and the team alike.

When Sachin Tendulkar walks to the crease, however, the Indian passion for cricket turns, in many cases, into mania.

Seeing Tendulkar dismissed without scoring a single run is a massive disappointment for his millions of fans, but for those who love gambling on the game, it can result in a welcome windfall.

Many of the cricket gamblers are in fact Tendulkar fans but cannot resist the lure of a 'satta' (bet).

According to Indian press reports, bets on Tendulkar's performance are particularly popular, but odds against him scoring nought can go as high as 1000/1.

Many bets are placed on Brian Lara

"There is always heavy betting on big players like Tendulkar and Lara," the Times of India quoted a satta organiser from Delhi as saying.

"With Sachin having just scored his 29th century and equalled Don Bradman's record, there is a lot of money running on him. Each and every of Sachin's cricket statistic is under heavy scrutiny."

Betting is illegal in India, but it still goes on in an informal way with millions of rupees changing hands every day, especially when a cricket match is involved.

One area where betting is rife is the old part of the capital, Delhi.

But the official line from some members of the police is that widespread gambling is not taking place.

"We never allow such illegal activities under our nose and through effective intelligence gathering, we make it sure that the game is not affected by betting," said Chodhury Ranbir Singh, Station House Officer of the Jama Masjid police station.

Thursday's Times of India told a different story, however, with a report on the arrest of two alleged members of a satta gang.

Bookies also bet on Harbhajan's performance

Officials acknowledge that despite the sensitivity surrounding betting on cricket as a result of the match-fixing scandal, it is not treated as a special issue.

"It's not an open activity taking place in Connaught Place, but it's also not the case that we are not taking any action. In fact we do," said Delhi police spokesman Ravi Pawar said.

It is a measure of Tendulkar's stature in India that he has been identified as one of Asia's most important figures by Time magazine.

"Tendulkar is embedded at the centre of a vast and crazily complex circuit board of emotions and occupies the middle like no other cricketer before him," the magazine says.

"Many factors divide India, but two unite it: cricket and a star named Sachin Tendulkar."

It is no surprise, therefore, that he is a focus of attention for people from all strata of Indian society - including the gamblers.