“Dhoni finishes off in style. A magnificent strike into the crowd! India lift the World Cup after 28 years!” These iconic words by commentator Ravi Shastri continue to echo in the hearts and minds of more than a billion Indians, and that unforgettable image of MS Dhoni holding the pose.
Shastri thundered these words as soon as MS Dhoni, the then Indian skipper, launched Sri Lanka’s Nuwan Kulasekara over long-on to complete the chase of 275 in the 2011 World Cup final at the Wankhede Stadium, ending India’s 28 year-wait of an ODI World Cup trophy; Kapil Dev’s side had won India’s first World Cup in 1983 defeating the mighty West Indies at Lord’s.
Not many fans, though, know that MS Dhoni doesn’t have that bat with which he hit the six in the final with him anymore. In fact, that bat was soon auctioned for charity just a few months after the final.
The bat MS Dhoni used, with a Reebok brand label on it, was sold in a charity event in London after the World Cup for a whopping price of INR 83 lakhs, Zee News has reported.
A Mumbai based brokerage firm, R K Global Shares & Securities Ltd (India), bought that bat at Dhoni’s ‘East Meets West’ Charity Dinner in London on 18 July 2011 and it consequently entered the Guinness World Records as the ‘most expensive cricket bat ever’.
On its official site, Guinness World Records wrote: “The most expensive cricket bat was Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s bat sold at auction for £100,000 ($161,295), bought by R K Global Shares & Securities Ltd (India), at the M.S Dhoni’s ‘East Meets West’ Charity Dinner, in London, UK, on 18 July 2011. The bat was used by Mahendra Singh Dhoni in World Cup 2011 finals on 2 April 2011 at Wankhede Stadium to hit the winning shot.”
The money raised was reportedly used for the development of MS Dhoni’s wife’s charitable organisation, Sakshi Foundation.
MS Dhoni, who had already led India to the inaugural T20 World Cup triumph in 2007 and followed it with the 2011 ODI World Cup win, also marched the Men In Blue to winning the Champions Trophy in 2013 in England and became the first – and only captain till date – to have won all these three ICC trophies.
