Sportspersons donate memorabilia for Rahul Bose’s NGO

MUMBAI - Do you fancy owning Sachin Tendulkar’s bat or Abhinav Bindra’s rifle? All you have to do is participate in an auction for which 26 prominent sportspersons have donated memorabilia that define iconic moments in their careers to raise funds for Bollywood actor Rahul Bose’s NGO.

At “Equation - An auction for Equality”, one can bid for, amongst others, Vishwanathan Anand’s world championship gold medal, the bat with which Sachin Tendulkar hit his fourth highest one-day score, the rifle with which Abhinav Bindra claimed the world championship, tennis shoes signed by Roger Federer and the racquet with which Mahesh Bhupathi’s claimed the Australian Open Grand Slam title.

These and other items will be auctioned Oct 29 and the proceeds will be used to support the causes of Bose’s NGO The Foundation.

The list of doners also boasts of impressive names like cricketers Saurav Ganguly, Sunil Gavaskar, Anil Kumble, Kapil Dev, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and Virendra Sehwag; tennis icons Leander Paes and Sania Mirza and shuttlers Prakash Padukone and Saina Nehwal.

Footballer Baichung Bhutia, cueists Geet Sethi and Pankaj Advani, as also international sportspersons like Shane Warne and Maria Sharapova have also donated for the auction.

Bindra, who is giving away his most prized possession, said: “I have been very attached to this rifle because it is with this I made my breakthrough at the highest level. It’s a system which has several technological advancements done specifically for me, including a hand-made calibrated trigger mechanism.”

“I won approximately 25 international medals during the six years I shot with this system. I must admit it is a little wrenching to give this away, but also extremely satisfying,” he added.