1985 World Championship bat fetches Rs 4.5 lakh at auction

A bat signed by players of all teams that took part in the 1985 World Championship of Cricket in Australia and belonging to the collection of former off spin great Erapalli Prasanna, fetched the highest price in an auction held here recently.
The highest successful bid for this bat at the Osian's auction of sporting memorabilia on September 13, was Rs 4.5 lakh, said a media release here today.
Legendary cricketer Ranjit Sinhji's autographed first edition "Jubilee Book of Cricket" achieved the highest price for a book at Rs 1.08 lakh.
A photograph of India's first Test XI that played at Lord's in June 1932 and autographed by the country's first Test captain C K Nayudu fetched Rs 90,000.

In the contemporary section, Harbhajan Singh's signed Test jersey which he wore during his 400th wicket was sold for Rs 2.16 lakh while V V S Laxman's signed gloves, which he wore while scoring 103 not out against Sri Lanka in a Test at Colombo, went under the hammer for Rs 1.80 lakh.
Some of the other items auctioned were Anshuman Gaekwad's autographed bat with which he scored his unbeaten 201 against Pakistan at Jalandhar in September 1983, an autographed willow of former India skipper G S Ramchand, and the promotional bat signed by the West Indian and Indian teams during the 1974-75 Test series.

The national ties of the late Dilip Sardesai and Anshuman Gaekwad, the photographs from ex-India skipper Ajit Wadekar's collection with one of them showing former captain M A K Pataudi, Ramakant Desai, Bapu Nadkarni and Wadekar fishing in Sydney Harbour during India's visit to Australia in 1967-68 were also auctioned.