Remember the Beygairat Brigade?

The Lahore-based rock band was accused of 'corrupting the minds' of young Pakistanis and served a media blackout by the authorities in charge of the country in 2011.

Their hefty serving of 'aaloo anday' proved too much for the establishment to swallow while the November 2013 ban on YouTube effectively knocked off the band's 'menace' permanently.

But, with the second coming of Youtube, the 'snake' (read Ali Aftaab Saeed) has lifted its head once again. And this time Saeed has chose a completely different path, one which is subtly mixed with the country's biggest passion: Cricket.

“It's Halal betting,” Saeed smirks when asked to elaborate on his newest project.

With the launch of the Pakistan Super League on February 4, Saeed considered the stage set to launch 'Punter Babu', the virtual cricket betting arena he created. Cricket betting is illegal in the subcontinent, so it was the perfect field for the Brigade frontman to step into.

But 'Punter Babu' is not a sleight at anyone. In fact, Saeed considers cricket betting a highly 'skillful' art.

“Have you seen Rounders? In the movie the woman asks, ‘why do you gamble?’ And the male-lead responds, ‘it is not a gamble, why do you think the same five people make it to the top-five of World Series Poker?’”

“In Poker, you and I, both are unaware of what cards have been dealt. But, in cricket, both of us know what is going on. Everything is visible to us. Hence, if you earn more than me, it implies you are more skillful than me.”

“This is an addiction. All-over the world the money is involved in betting, so, my idea was to take the money out of it and leave rest the same. Yes, technically it is betting, but it is not illegal, since, you are not making any money out of it.”

He draws comparison with the famous Facebook Zynga Poker to prove the legality of his 'baby'.

“On Zynga Poker, a player possessing more chips can sell them to other players for money on the private table. It is illegal, even Zynga Poker discourages the act and bans those who indulge in such activity. There is no such loophole on my website,” explains Ali.

“I could’ve followed Zynga Poker by the introduction of the top-up feature. For some money, I would be recharging the accounts, but the Pakistani conservatives would have conceived it as gambling because of the money involvement. Despite of the fact, that this is not illegal.”

The ‘My Account’ drop-down menu at Punter Babu contains ‘Add Credit’ section, which Ali explicates will be eradicated soon.

The site is currently being run in beta mode, “this is because of the wordpress’ betting site template. The icons that are not of our use will be removed.”

Saeed has been working on the site for over a year and launched it on the day of the Pakistan Super League’s so punters from both Pakistan and India could make 'use' of it.

“This site aims to provide a virtual betting atmosphere to the punters of Pakistan and India. In Pakistan betting is Haram and for some reason it is banned in India,” says Ali.

In order to add realness, Punter Babu’s rates are taken from the official betting sites from around the world and Saeed sees Punter Babu’s more engaging feature as whip hand over the Fantasy leagues around the world.

“In Fantasy, you create a team prior to the game and then you cannot do anything but pray for your selected players to perform. Here you are involved in the game throughout, till the last ball. Like in Fantasy you select AB de Villiers; if he scores a fifty, you’d be awarded points or there will be a deduction in the other scenario.

“But here, when AB walks out a rate will be given, let’s say 50 paisa, that he will score a fifty. When he is on 45, that rate will fall to 10 paisa. When he is on 49 and you opt against him scoring a fifty, you can make 10,000 PKR on mere 100 PKR.

“Hence, throughout the game, you are a part of trading, you are involved in the game. This cannot be provided by any Fantasy league.”

However, he wishes to follow the awarding pattern of Cricinfo’s Fantasy league one day if he manages to attract get sponsors. For now, Saeed recognises the leaderboard toppers on Punter Babu’s Facebook page.

But awarding prizes will turn it into gambling, right? No, says Saeed.

Saeed clarifies that since the virtual punters are not investing anything, so, they don’t have anything to lose which makes it ‘Halal Betting’.

So are you ready to place that halal bet on Shahid Afridi?