Through the auction which aims to help the hearing-impaired and intellectually challenged children, KL Rahul and wife Athiya Shetty raised Rs 1.93 crore.
New Delhi: Virat Kohli’s signed Team India jersey fetched a whopping Rs 40 lakh in a cricket auction ‘Cricket for a cause’ by Indian cricketer KL Rahul and his wife Athiya Shetty to help needy children. The auction, which took place in Mumbai on Friday, had memorabilia from some of the top Indian and overseas cricketers, the proceeds of which will go to help the hearing-impaired and intellectually challenged children through Vipla Foundation.
Besides Kohli’s Team India jersey, the former India captain’s batting gloves also fetched Rs 28 lakh. Apart from Kohli, Rohit Sharma’s bat got Rs 24 lakh, T20 World Cup-winning former India coach Rahul Dravid’s bat got Rs 11 lakh while two-time World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni’s bat went for Rs 13 lakh. Rahul’s jersey was sold for Rs 11 lakh. In total, Rahul-Shetty raised Rs 1.93 crore for the cause.
On his cricketing front, Rahul is eyeing a comeback into the Indian side. The stylish right-hander was left on the sidelines during the Test series against England due to an injury. With the Bangladesh Test series at home in the horizon, Rahul will aim to find form at the Duleep Trophy starting shortly. He has been named in Team A for the Duleep Trophy and will be playing under Shubman Gill’s captaincy.
Dhruv Jurel, who made an impressive Test debut against England at home, will don the gloves for Team A. India are hosting Bangladesh in a two-match Test series next month before facing New Zealand at home. Post that India will fly to Australia for a five-match Border Gavaskar Trophy.