Yesterday afternoon, the Rooftop at the Trident Hotel in Mumbai was worth billions of Rupees, what with all the sporting memorabilia that lined the walls.
Sachin Tendulkar’s bat, Sebastian Vettel’s signed F1 World Championship Racing vest, the match ball used for the final of the ICC World Cup 2011, signed by the captains, M. S. Dhoni and Kumar Sangakarra, Rafael Nadal’s autographed tennis shoes, Lionel Messi’s Team Argentina autographed football, Milkha Singh’s Rome Olympics 1960 running spikes, Mary Kom’s World Championship medal–winning boxing gloves, 2011 – all this and more, took pride of place in the room, enclosed in glass boxes.
The Foundation, the NGO founded by actor Rahul Bose announced the arrival of “Equation 2012 – an auction for equality”.
Also at the conference to promote the auction, which will be held on the 11th of February 2012, was India’s ex football captain, Bhaichung Bhutia. Reticent and quiet, with a quick smile and disarming humility, Bhutia has also donated a few jerseys which he has worn himself (see video for more details).
Says Rahul Bose “The auction this year will see twenty-nine pieces pledged, not only by world champions from India, but from across the world, as an expression of both – the faith in The Foundation and their highest regard for Equation. This is an event dedicated to the beauty and honor of sport. The auction will be held on February 11, 2012 (at the Trident Hotel, Nariman Point) preceded by cocktails, followed by a black tie, sit-down dinner.”
Rahul tells us that he’s “Spent six months collecting pieces from across sports, across continents. Already it is the greatest collection of sporting memorabilia in history.”
Adds Bhutia, “The evening will be hosted by actor Siddharth and Cyrus Broacha. The proceeds of the auction will go towards the corpus of The Foundation, an NGO dedicated to creating a world without discrimination. Also, the proceeds from four of the pieces, which I’ve donated, will go towards building a world-class football ground in Sikkim, and also relief work, since the state was ravaged by an earthquake last year!”
List Of Pieces Up For Auction:
SPECIAL TRIBUTE
Lot 1. Sachin Tendulkar : Bat. IPL 2011.
Lot 2. Brian Lara : Bat. Autographed Bat.
Lot 3. Rafael Nadal : Autographed Tennis shoes.
Lot 4. All Blacks : World Champions 2011. Autographed Jersey.
Lot 5. Lionel Messi, Team Argentina : Autographed football.
ICC WORLD CUP 2011 SPECIAL
Lot 6. ICC World Cup 2011 Final, Mumbai : Autographed Ball.
Lot 7. ICC World Cup 2011 : Bat. World Champions – India.
Lot 8. ICC World Cup 2011 : Autographed Captains’ Bat.
Lot 9. Zaheer Khan : ICC World Cup 2011. Bowling shoes.
Lot 10. M. S. Dhoni : ICC World Cup 2011. Bat.
MASTERS
Lot 11. Magic Johnson : Autographed LA Lakers vest.
Lot 12. Steve Ovett : Running vest, European Championships, 1986.
Lot 13. Greatest All Rounders :
- Imran Khan: Bat
- Sir Richard Hadlee: Ball
- Kapil Dev: Bowling shoes
- Sir Ian Botham: Botham’s Ashes, 1982.
Lot 14. Spin Quartet :
- Test Blazers: B S Bedi, S Venkatraghavan.
- Test Pullovers: E A S Prasanna, B S Chandrasekhar.
Lot 15. Spin Quartet : Autographed Cricket Balls.
Lot 16. Milkha Singh : Rome Olympics 1960: Running Spikes.
FORMULA 1 – THE FORMIDABLE FOUR.
Lot 17. Sebastian Vettel : World Champion 2011, the Red Bull racing vest.
Lot 18. Rubens Barichello : Williams racing suit, 2011.
Lot 19. Fernando Alonso : Ferrari racing gloves, 2011.
Lot 20. Famous Five : Autographed team caps, 2011 – Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Mark Weber & Niko Rosberg.
YESTERDAY, INDIA. TODAY, THE WORLD.
Lot 21. Viswanathan Anand : World Champion Trophy, Teheran 2000.
Lot 22. ‘Indian Express’ : Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi: Autographed Racquets.
Lot 23. Mary Kom : Gold medal-winning boxing gloves, from the 2010 World Championship, Barbados.
Lot 24. Sushil Kumar : Gold medal-winning wrestling vest, from the 2010 World Championship, Moscow.
Lot 25. VVS Laxman : Bat – 148 v Australia, Adelaide, 2003.
Lot 26. Saina Nehwal : Autographed shoes & racquet, from the All England Championships, 2011.
Lot 27. Dhanraj Pillay : Asiad 2002 (Gold Medal): Captain’s blazer, armband, & hockey stick signed by the Indian team.
Lot 28. Vijender Singh : Bronze medal–winning boxing gloves, from the 2009 World Championships, Milan.
Lot 29. Harbhajan Singh : Pullover, 400th Test wicket.