In an apparent expression of disillusionment over the performance of the side in recent times, there was no taker for a bat initialled by all members of Team India at an auction in Kolkata.
While another bat bearing the signatures of the entire Pakistan team, fetched Rs 40,000, silence descended on the glittering banquet hall of a five star hotel when the Team India bat went under the hammer last night.
Despite repeated coaxing by the auctioneer, none of the celebrities and industrial barons present gave a bid for the willow and the organisers were forced to withdraw the bat.
A six-ODI ban notwithstanding, regular team India skipper Sourav Ganguly's popularity in his own city was proved yet again as his cricketing gear fetched the top three prices in the auction where Rs 5.15 lakh was raised for the welfare of distressed groundsmen and coaches.
Accompanied by danseuse wife Dona and daughter Sana, Ganguly sat through the function and even handed over his bat, which attracted the highest bid of Rs one lakh.
The bid for a bat jointly signed by Ganguly and legendary opener Sunil Gavaskar reached upto Rs 75,000 while a pair of gloves donned by the left hander collected Rs 65,000.
A jersey, worn by Ganguly in the just-concluded one-day series, attracted a top bid of Rs 25,000, while a Tata Indicom phone bearing the cricketer's autograph fetched Rs 10,000.
The outfit put up by Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul Haq in his 100th Test at Bangalore was lapped for Rs 50,000 while a pair of gloves belonging to the burly batsman fetched Rs 35,000.
