Men in Blue hold sway over city as punters bet on India win

HYDERABAD: Over 5,000 miles away from the Sydney Cricket Ground, Hyderabadis are all set to paint the city blue on Thursday. Armed with ‘tickets’ to special screenings, an overt sense of patriotism and a million reasons to stay away from work, thousands of cricket enthusiasts from the city have blocked the day for a date with the India-Australia World Cup semi-final clash that kicks off at 9 am.
Such is the frenzy around the ODI game, that even private companies have decided to give the otherwise working day a weekend feel. And that’s also perhaps for the fear of en masse ‘bunking’! Some of them have, therefore, installed projectors and LCDs right in the midst of work stations to allow staffers get live updates from the field all through the day. If that’s not all, a few firms have also thrown in a complimentary lunch or a mid-week dress code (anything blue) to pump up the tempo.
IT firms gear up to cheer Men in Blue
“A big screen, lunch, unlimited ice creams, face painting accompanied by ‘dhol’ have been arranged for the employees to watch the match in office. Rather than watching just the highlights after a long day at work, we will be coming together to cheer the Men in Blue and make this a memorable experience,” said Nitya Nivali, HR director of Progress Software.
Away from the plush IT towers, pan shops, roadside salons and select hotels too are geared up for a frantic day of business. For, expected to throng these locations are scores of cricket buffs hoping to make a quick buck – courtesy betting. Bookies, who have already declared India as the favourites to win the game, confess that the stakes are pretty high for the mega clash with people betting with a minimum buy in of Rs 5,000.
“The stake for India winning the toss is 1:3, while for Australia it is 1:10. Similarly, the stake for India to win the game is 1:17 when compared to Australia’s 1:23. However, this might change once the game gets into motion,” said Vijay (name changed), a punter who’s confident of making big money on Thursday. That cops are likely to be on high alert all day seems to be of little concern to those like Vijay.
Apart from betting, those like the Lutheras, for instance, have decided to turn the day into a family gathering and enjoy the gentleman’s game from within the comfortable confines of their farmhouse in Medchal. He’s also allowed his two sons to call in sick at work, for once. “I usually do not allow them to bunk, but this is an exception. We are a family of cricket fanatics and Thursday’s match is going to be the biggest game of the tournament,” said Narender Singh Luthera.
Not surprising then that HR managers across companies were flooded with leave applications on Wednesday – one beating the other in being more ‘creative’. “From a blunt ‘I am so sorry I will not be able to make it to work today’ to ‘my uncle died’, I’ve heard them all. Some of them have even cited ‘grave injuries’ as an excuse, which I am sure will mysteriously cure themselves on Friday,” said Salaam Mohammed, a team leader with an e-commerce company.
Now, we can only hope and pray that Team India does an encore!