Rohit left a Tendulkar effect on people across the city since Thursday morning.
Deserted roads, empty theatres, paltry footfall at malls, eerie silence broken by sudden loud cheers and the firecrackers in the evening - all these epitomise what cricket stands for millions of fans in the country. The city was not an exception either.
Morning does not always show the day, especially when the Men in Blue were dominating Bangladesh in Melbourne, as the initial hiccups of three wickets in a span of 40 runs - between 75 and 115 - could not deter cheerleaders in the state capital.
The busy streets of the morning rush hours looked like bylanes of a hot and sultry afternoon as Rohit Sharma's innings progressed, especially after Ajinkya Rahane got out on the last ball of the 28th over.
Office-goers - those who could not manage a day-off unlike many others - were delighted with the ease in traffic on otherwise chock-a-block thoroughfares. "I came to office in 20 minutes on Thursday though it takes 40-50 minutes on any other weekday. The streets remind me of the days of Sachin Tendulkar when we used to remain glued to the TV sets in our younger days till the master blaster got out," said Nikhil Kumar, an employee in a private bank on Fraser Road.
Offices - both private and government - were all about minute-by-minute updates and discussions on the quarter-final. Those offices at the state secretariat, which had TV sets, were filled with staff making a beeline to take a glimpse of the match. "We don't have a TV set in our room. We watch the match either at the chamber of the principal secretary, when he is not here or a few other cells, which have the TV sets," said a state government employee at new secretariat on condition of anonymity.
Forget the roads, even those who are busy guarding the Assembly, which is in session, were in a dilemma - whether to watch live telecast of the proceedings of the House or that one being beamed from Australia to the TV set at the security kiosk.
If less traffic on Beer Chand Patel Marg made commuting smoother then the state headquarters offices of different parties on the arterial road turned out to be literally cool place to watch the match. At one of the party offices, office-bearers were seen switching on the AC and enjoying the cross-border cricket war.
BJP workers also remained glued to the TV sets watching the match in the comfort of party office premises. "We discuss politics regularly but this Thursday is different and we are here to cheer for Team India," said one of them.
Even the judiciary was not away from the grip of the cricket fever as the lawyers could be seen crowded around television sets, wherever one was found. "There is one television set each inside the libraries of the three associations at Patna High Court - Barristers' Association, Lawyers' Association and Advocates' Association. People were seen with their eyes focused on the television sets, whenever they got some free time," said Ruchi Mohanka, a lawyer at Patna High Court.
Fliers waiting at Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport also gathered around the TV screen inside the terminal building. "I reached the airport at 3pm and my flight to Bangalore is at 6.25pm. For the first time, I was happy with the three-hour wait at the airport," said Vijay Kumar, a resident of Gaya.
Though the footfall at most restaurants was not very encouraging, those who had come enjoyed to the fullest by availing some great offers. Sameer Singh and his friends were seen cheering for Team India over several rounds of drinks at Galverch, the bar at Hotel Gargee Grand.
"I had asked two of my friends to come over to Gargee to watch the match as they were offering complimentary beer on fours, sixes and wickets," said Sameer.
With Team India winning the quarter-final, the hotels are now planning to go big with the semi-final and final. Praveen Kumar, banquet manager, Bawarchi, the restaurant at Patliputra Exotica, claimed that the hotel would put up a 70-inch screen for the final.
