Ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan’s favourite bat that he used during ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in England to score avalanche of runs was sold for TK 20 lakhs in an auction held on Wednesday through facebook, report agencies.
The money generated from selling the bat will go to his ‘The Shakib Al Hasan Foundation’ and will be spent to aid the people suffering in Bangladesh during the coronavirus pandemic.
Shakib is the first Bangladeshi cricketer to put up his cricketing memorabilia up for auction even though Mushfiqur was the first one to declare that he would auction his bat with which he scored the country’s first double century in a Test match in Galle in 2013.
The auction however was held a day after Shakib revealed his desire to put it up for auction. The auction was held on a Facebook page called Auction 4 Action and ran for several hours before eventually finding its buyer in an USA Bangladeshi resident, named Raj.
The Floor price for the bat was kept at TK 5 lakhs. “Raj bhai deserves this bat. He has been part of the bid from the start. He wants to give this bat to his kids. I believe the almighty wanted him to have this bat because of his noble thought.
So, thank you Raj bhai and also other who participated,” said Shakib at the end of the bid held on Facebook. Syed Rajib Imteaz feels fortunate enough to own of 2019 World Cup bat of Shakib Al Hasan as he was the highest bidder during the auction.
"As someone said on the auction yesterday [Wednesday], it is a bat with such unique history, a bat by such an extraordinary cricketer that everyone with love for cricket would want to touch it once. So I feel fortunate that I was able to win the bat," Rajib was quoted in leading English daily on Friday.
"I am also really excited to meet Shakib Al Hasan Bhai who has promised to deliver the bat in person. He is such an inspiration for us - not just in the field of cricket but in life in general. He gives us hope that we Bangladeshis can be the best in the whole world," he said.
Rajib, who is currently the client-advisor and the head of technology origination at Matthews South, an independent advisory and software firm based in New York, placed a bid of BDT 20 lakh to win the ownership of the bat.
The premier all-rounder scored 606 runs with two centuries and five half-centuries in eight matches at a staggering average of 86.57 in 2019 World Cup in England with this SG bat. This was the third highest total in that World Cup. He also took 11 wickets in that World Cup. The feat with both bat and ball made him the first player in the World Cup history with a rare double of 500 runs and 10 wickets.
Shakib termed this bat as ‘lucky’ for him and said throughout the World Cup he used that particular bat and even used tap to keep it in good shape. He also scored more than 1500 runs with this before and during the World Cup.