Rinku Kahlon, owner of Colonel’s Cabin restaurant and Deochan Doris Pub, said, “Witnessing the cricket fever, we had made prior arrangements and installed big LCD televisions in our restaurant.
“During the tournament, people have been glued to our LCD TV sets till late night. Even last night, we witnessed a huge rush of cricket buffs. And now as the arch rivals — India and Pakistan — will play the final, we are planning to make extra arrangements.”
Many restaurants are offering special gifts during the match. Arun Jaie, general manager, Majestic Park Plaza hotel said: “In our Champs Bar, we have installed a big screen and will offer some surprise gifts to the customers during the match.”
Sanjay Arora, general secretary of Sutlej Club, said the club has arranged a projector to show the live coverage of the final on a 35mm screen.
Meanwhile, Ludhiana’s residents celebrated India’s victory over the mighty Aussies late last night in the semi- final of the Twenty20 World Cup. In many areas, people burst crackers to celebrate the victory.
“This new avatar of cricket has removed the mid-innings boredom and has become more viewer-friendly,” said Naagar, a cricket fan. “Though cricket purists are unhappy with this form of cricket, it has become a three-hour power-packed piece of entertainment for us, with a filmy interval.”