In a heartwarming gesture, India cricketer KL Rahul and his actress-wife Athiya Shetty recently conducted a ‘Cricket For Charity’ auction to support the Vipla Foundation's mission to provide quality education to underprivileged children.

The auction, which took place in Mumbai on Friday (August 23), witnessed some of the biggest names in international cricket contributing their prized memorabilia for this noble cause.

It was a big success as the auction raised a total of 1.93 crores. Among the highlights was Virat Kohli's jersey, which was sold for a staggering INR 40 lakhs.

Kohli’s gloves were also a significant draw, fetching INR 28 lakhs. India skipper Rohit Sharma’s bat was another notable item, going for 24 lakhs.

World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni’s bat was sold for INR 13 lakhs at the auction. This contribution, along with Rahul Dravid's bat, which drew INR 11 lakhs, once again highlighted the immense popularity of cricket icons in India. KL Rahul’s jersey was also sold for INR 11 lakhs.

Rahul and Athiya insisted that this initiative was very close to their hearts as it aided the upliftment of differently-abled children.

“Rahul and I are thrilled to announce our first charity auction, ‘Cricket for a Cause,’ to benefit the Vipla Foundation,” Athiya said during the event, as quoted by TOI.

Rahul endorsed Athiya’s words, adding, “The proceeds from this auction will go directly towards supporting the Vipla Foundation's special school for hearing-impaired and intellectually disabled children, a cause that is incredibly close to my heart.”

KL Rahul last played for India during the ODI series against Sri Lanka earlier this month. He is likely to return to action during the home Test series against Bangladesh next month.