Amid the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim has decided to put his “very precious” bat on auction to raise funds for the COVID-19 Relief Fund in order to help the victim of the crisis in the country.
Rahim, who is considered as one of the best batsmen to have ever emerged from the cricket-mad nation Bangladesh, in a very kind gesture has decided to donate his very special bat with which he scored a double hundred against Sri Lanka in 2013 to help his countrymen during the time of distress.
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In 2013, the right-hander had slammed 200 runs off 321 balls in a Test match against Sri Lanka in Galle to become the first double centurion for his country in the traditional format of the game.
He scored his second double hundred in Tests against Zimbabwe in 2018, and even this year on February 24, 2020, Rahim also hammered a double Test century (200 runs) against the same side in Dhaka, becoming the only Bangladeshi batsman to score three double-hundreds in Test cricket.
Mushfiqur told the Dhaka-based Bengali daily Prothom Alo, “Definitely, the bat is very special to me because it is attached to history. Not everyone can become the first double centurion for his country.”
The keeper further added, “I had a special liking for this bat. But there is nothing more important than human life and so I have decided to put it into the auction. If through this sacrifice I can help one or two people than that will be my biggest achievement. If I find a good response in the auction for the bat then I have got a few more things that I will put up in the auction. I don’t think there is nothing important than helping out people during their time of distress.”
He signed off, “It will be put up online, so let’s see how we can go about it. I urge everyone with the ability to push up the price of the bat since the proceeds will be spent entirely for the poor people.”
Noteworthy, the total number of over 2000 peoples have tested positive for coronavirus in Bangladesh while the deadly virus has killed more than 1.65 lakh people globally so far.
Earlier, England wicket-keeper batsman Jos Buttler raised 65,000 pounds by auctioning his World Cup final jersey to help the country in the ongoing health crisis caused by the COVID-10 pandemic.
(With Prothom Alo Inputs)
