Come Sunday, Dhoni's Rising Pune Supergiant will take on their rival team in the IPL final while cricket buffs in Captain Cool's hometown Ranchi will lap up the experience live on giant screens.
It will be an atmosphere akin to a real-match venue at the JSCA stadium in Dhurwa, thanks to the league's flagship promotional initiative Vivo IPL Fan Park.
JSCA secretary Debashish Chakraborty said the final match would be beamed live on four giant screens.
"In the last season of fan park, we witnessed a crowd of around 3,000. The final is on a Sunday, so this time we expect a good turnout," he said.
"Visitors will get to relive a live match experience. We just hope the weather is fine," Chakraborty added.
The gates will open at 7pm and entry will be free for all.
"We have kept 250 to 300 seats for VIPs and 1,500 for the rest. It is generally observed that the crowd keeps moving and no one sits throughout the entire match. So, accordingly arrangements are being made," added Chakraborty.
Stalls selling refreshments, merchandise and gaming zones will also entertain the crowd.
IPL fans of the city are equally excited.
Telecom executive Rakesh Singh said initially he had to chose between watching the latest flick Half Girlfriend or staying back at home to catch the IPL final. "But now I will go for the matinee show and then drop in at JSCA stadium," said Singh.
College student Rohit Kumar also cannot wait to cheer for his favourite team.
"I haven't missed a single IPL match at JSCA. I was initially disappointed when I learnt that no IPL match will be held in Ranchi this time. I will be cheering for Dhoni's team and can't wait to see them win," said Kumar.
Launched in 2015, as part of IPL's promotional initiative, Vivo IPL Fan Park was first held in 16 cities. This year, it is being held across 36 cities in 21 states. As many as 14 new cities, including Bhubaneswar, Bareilly, Kochi, Ludhiana, Tumkur, Nagercoil, Shimla and Siliguri are hosting the fan park for the first time this year.
In Jamshedpur, two IPL matches were screened live at G Town grounds in Bistupur on April 22 and 23.
