Watch World Cup here for free!

Residents of this building at Marine Drive will get a bird's eye view of allu00a0the cricket action from their terrace

The terrace of Hemprabha Apartments on Marine Drive will soon double as the most desirable vantage point to watch the World Cup, outside of the stadium itself that is.


Residents of Hemprabha building on Marine Drive enjoy the million-dollar view

Now that Wankhede Stadium has been raised to five storeys, the best free view is now available to residents of this seven-storey building in the vicinity, and they are not complaining.

They have the stadium in plain sight from the eastern side of the terrace, which looks on to the stadium. During matches at the stadium, all of them gather to catch the action live and free.

Sanket Kamat, who resides on the first floor, said, "The privilege of living here is that we get to see the matches for free without much intervention and with all our family members and friends."

The residents organise a kind of get-together every time there's a match being played at Wankhede. And, in the build-up to the Cup, the enthusiasm is discernible.

They have attended to every detail in preparation for the three matches that will be played at the stadium.

The residents will have food, music and a television set fitted on the terrace, along with stands for people to lounge.

Every resident gets five passes to give to relatives and friends, and keep the unacquainted out. They are for free. Kamat said, "We don't charge anyone for the passes."

With 26 flats, the building, tallest in the neighbourhood, needs to fortify itself against cricket-crazed gatecrashers who try and wiggle their way in.
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The management will recruit more guards to stand vigil on the premises, to keep the uninvited out.u00a0

Said the secretary of the building, Kala Banga, "People who do not get to see the game from the stadium try to get in. But, we do not allow anyone except for family and friends."

The building's ex-secretary, Jyoti Ashar said, "We have a policeman for security. On days of a match, they come in for inspection."

Ashar, who lives on the third floor, said that, at one point in time, she could see the stadium from her balcony. But, after the stadium erected the tall boundary walls, she has to walk up to the terrace.

However, everyone is not happy with the stadium's renovation. Those living in the five-storeyed buildings next to Hemprabha are upset.

Where once they could see the pitch, they have now been relegated to the blind side.

A resident from Keval Mahal building said, "We could see the pitch from our second floor apartment but now we cannot even have a look from a terrace on the fifth floor."


The view of the Wankhede Stadium from the eastern side of the terrace of Hemprabha building on Marine Drive

Ek Cutting!
Name of the game
The main gate to the Wankhede stadium grounds are named after Polly Umrigar and Vinoo Mankad. The stands are named after famous Mumbai cricketers like Vijay Merchant (west stand), Sunil Gavaskar (east stand upper) and Sachin Tendulkar (north stand).

2,000 free WC passes for BMC school students
For the first time, 2,000 students from civic-run schools in Mumbai will get an opportunity to watch the World Cup matches at the Wankhede Stadium, for free. On February 7, BMC's Standing Committee Chairperson Rahul Shewale had written a letter to MCA to reserve 2,000 seats for students of BMC-run schools. "We received a letter from Lalchand Rajput, joint secretary of MCA, stating that 2,000 students will get an opportunity to see World Cup matches on two days at Wankhede stadium," Shewale said.

10,000
The increase in seating capacity at the stadium after the addition of extra stands on the north (7,000) and south (3,000) sides

Matches at Wankhede
March 13: New Zealand vs Canada
March 18: Sri Lanka vs New Zealand
April 2: Final