An artist?s impression of the new restaurant and lounge coming up by Christmas at City Centre

Lunch at Lords, high tea at Gabba, dinner at Eden ? not on a green top but on the tables at Caught n Bowled. And here, Sourav Ganguly is neither opener nor skipper, but mentor.

Caught n Bowled restaurant and lounge ? the abbreviation CnB would stand for cuisine and bar ? is coming up in City Centre (Block B), in time for Christmas. The 5,000-sq-ft food stop, by SD Constructions, has a direct link with Sourav the foodie. His role ? unlike lending his name to the Park Street address ? would be less obvious.

Sanjay Das, partner, SD Constructions, former Bengal cricketer, and a friend of Sourav, told Metro on Wednesday: ?Though Dada would not be involved with the daily activities, he would be giving vital inputs to enhance the service and the theme of the place. Over the past year (of Sourav?s), he has acquired a decent knowledge in food and beverages. He would also make special appearances on festivals and important occasions.?

The word from Sourav to Sanjay and his boys is clear: ?Caught n Bowled must set new standards in food and service. The lounge must give the people of Salt Lake a good place to relax. And, cricket must play a big part at the place.?

The 85-cover multi-cuisine restaurant would cover 3,500 sq ft, while the rest would be equally divided into a lounge bar and the kitchen. With Sourav on the scene, the cricket connection can be lost on none ? following on from The Food Pavilion trademark of One-Day coffee shop and Overboundary restaurant. ?The d?cor and the milieu of the place would have cricket written all over it,? assures Das.

To begin with, 208 cricket balls would be used to make the main gate of the restaurant. Once inside, the portraits and profiles of India?s nine greatest cricketers ? or rather Sourav and eight others ? would cover the walls. As would the defining moments on Indian cricket ? Kapil Dev lifting the World Cup, Sunil Gavaskar completing 10,000 runs and, of course, a shirtless Sourav on the Lord?s balcony after the famous Natwest Trophy win.

The gear would be as cricket as it gets ? service staff in One-Day jerseys and flannels, and managers in trendy umpiring garb, T-shirts, headphones and all.

Even food would not escape the passion of cricket at the multi-cuisine address. Seated at a table titled Lords, one can order Chicken Leg Glance (or Chicken Kalmi Kebab) or even LBW (Chicken Tangri Kebab).