Cricket-based betting and University students: A new income source or a curse for university students in Bangladesh?

Due to the widespread interest in cricket in Bangladesh, many individuals are participating in cricket-specific online betting, university students are also participating, and their lives are being impacted in various ways by betting on cricket. Existing literature and newspaper articles have been assessed to identify variables, and a semi-structured questionnaire was developed using the variables. Based on variables, 20 university students from Sylhet were interviewed through in-depth interviews (IDIs). Universities were selected through the purposive sampling technique, and respondents were determined by using snowball sampling. The study demonstrated that university students, who are typically well educated, started betting in student life to earn additional money, but the outcomes seemed largely unpleasant. Betting negatively affects students' academic performance and personal and family relationships. Additionally, they must deal with a variety of mental challenges after starting betting. Even though most university students stop betting after substantial losses, it still influences their lives.