Pulse on Wankhede

Jamshedpur, March 31: Fast forward to April 2 at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, with Sachin Tendulkar facing Muttiah Muralitharan.

Nervous? Brace yourself with a Yuvraj Special Chicken Finger and down it with a Dhoni Regular Score of Dhoni.

Hospitality hubs in Jamshedpur such as Fortune Hotel Centre Point are cashing in on the World Cup craze with starters and drinks inspired by cricketing lingo.

So nibble on Clean Bowled, Short Pitch Nuggets, Hat-trick Spice Potato, Head Ya Tail. And head to the Umpire’s Beer Bucket for the tipple of your choice such as Dhoni’s Regular Score or Tendulkar Shot.

The Bistupur hotel will also arrange a screen bigger than what they had put up for the Mohali semi-final. Cheerleaders from Calcutta, a DJ and an a-la-carte menu with a cricket theme will heighten spirits in the banquet hall.

“We want guests to feel the pulse of the final. Screening the semi-final was a superhit. Besides guests, a number of Europeans from nearby hotels also dropped by,” said hotel general manager Rajiv K. Bajaj.

Hotel Citi Inn at Pardih has also decided to screen the match in the lounge decorated with Tricolours, while hotel employees don cricketing gear. “We want to give our guests the feeling of being in the stadium,” said Sudip Banerjee, marketing manager of Hotel Citi Inn.

Wave International on NH-33 has also set to go the Tricolour way. It is also stepping up on its hospitality quotient with a 10 per cent discount on the special menu and free drinks (limited numbers).

This apart, two giant screens will give guests the chance to catch the ball-by-ball action amid dhol and crackers. “India is playing the World Cup final. It’s celebration time,” said its director Rinku Singh.

Meanwhile, Sarita Talkies in Adityapur will beam the final on the big screen, with tickets priced at Rs 100, Rs 20 up from that of the Indo-Pak match. Movie hall owner Arjun Shaw said this was the “Baap of Bollywood, hence the price of tickets has increased.”

City clubs, despite screening the big match, have decided to go without frills.