David Cameron auctions ’most valuable’ Sachin Tendulkar’s bat

Mangaloretoday/ CNN-IBN

London, May 13: British Prime Minister David Cameron, who considered a bat signed by Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar as one of his ’most valuable possessions’, has donated it to raise money for a cricket stadium in Rwanda.

The bat fetched 3,400 pounds (approx Rs 3 lakh) at an auction at the Lord’s to raise funds for the stadium project, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Some days ago, at an event of the Conservative Friends of India, Cameron had spoken how he cherished the bat and Tendulkar’s signature during his visit to India in 2010.

 

He told the Indian audience that he was horrified when he saw his wife Samantha play French cricket with the same bat at the Chequers, the Prime Minister’s country residence, adding, "I said, ’No, darling, put it down, this is probably the most valuable possession I have.’"

The auction, held in the Long Room at Lord’s, was to commemorate the life of Christopher Shale, Cameron’s constituency chairman, who was found dead at the Glastonbury festival last summer.

Shale’s son, Edo, said the event raised almost 130,000 pounds for the project.

He told the daily, "We are all delighted and a little exhausted. These funds are the springboard this charity needs to take us into the construction phase of the cricket stadium."