Saturday could well trip all the eyeball trackers in the advertisement world headlong.

Over 1.21 billion eyes and ears wait to hear the music their hearts wish to hear — the triumph of blues over the Lankan lions at the Wankhede Stadium.

For Mumbaikars, be it on trains, buses or roadside chats, the only issues are: Will Sachin hammer his 100th ton and India lift the ICC World Cup, 28 years after Kapil Dev's men did the country proud.

6,000 OPEN AIR SCREENS

Blessed are those who managed to get their tickets to the grand finale.

For those the stadium is out of bounds, all roads will lead home or to the 6,000 giant screens that have been put up very where — from chawls to high-rise residential complexes in this busy megapolis.

If statisticians and cric prophets have the slightest of reservations, they have carefully swept them under the carpet for, in Bharat, Sachin is demigod and cricket the religion.

As for South Mumbai, the khaki army with the Central Industrial Security Force alongside has taken over and fortified the lush green Wankhede Stadium, which as such has been declared a no fly zone with roads in and around the area to be closed to traffic on D-day. All security personnel and support staff have been issued biometric cards for entry.

THREE-TIER CORDON

Coastal security agencies are also on alert mode. The Mumbai Police Commissioner, Mr Arup Patnaik, at a press conference said that for the first time in his career he was seeing arrangements of an extraordinary scale. A three-tier cordon has been thrown around the huge stadium. It is better to err on the side of caution, he told reporters.

The State Government has declared a special public holiday in Mumbai on Saturday.

DIPLOMACY BYTES

Perhaps, a ‘follow on' to the touch of diplomacy exhibited at Mohali, the President Ms Pratiba Patil, and her Sri Lankan counterpart, Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa, are expected to grace the finals. The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and Ms Sonia Gandhi are also expected to take the cricket bandwagon from Mohali to Mumbai.

For those determined to make it to the Wankhede stadium, ticket prices are in another orbit. Black marketers are said to be asking Rs 1.25 lakh for a Rs 37,500 ticket. The cheapest Rs 1,500 tickets are said to be going for Rs 18,000; and no dearth of takers for this too. As much as the stadium, star hotels are carrying houseful boards and air tickets for April 2 and 3 are exorbitantly priced. Mumbai is chocked with cricket frenzied fans.

ANGRY LEGISLATORS

Meanwhile, there was furore in the Maharashtra Assembly with legislators wanting tickets. The Home Minister, replying to queries, said the land on which the Wankhede Stadium has been built was leased out at Rs 15,000 a year to the Mumbai Cricket Association in 1968 and it had been asked to invite all legislators. It is learnt about 150 tickets were given to the Revenue Department and these have allegedly been cornered by the more influential.

Punters, playing hide and seek with police, have spelt out the odds — it is 1:0.67 in Team India's favour and 1:1.4 for Sri Lanka. Guesstimates indicate that the sums involved could be about Rs 8,000 crore.

BIZ HALTS

The India-Pakistan semi-final could in many ways provide an inkling of how the 11 men in bleed blue can bring businesses to a halt.

A senior bank-manager of private sector bank said all her customers had called up the day before to cancel appointments. An optician said he could not honour any delivery during this week as Wednesday and Saturday were effectively off the calendar. On Wednesday, a busy hospital in a Mumbai suburb had more than its regular number of patients queuing up before the doctor's door. The reason: He called only when there was a break for advertisement.

Sunset on Saturday, though, may bring to a close the careers of a couple of legends who have graced the stadiums across the world with their sheer magic and artistry.

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