Pakistan Test Skipper Azhar Ali puts bat, jersey on auction to raise funds for COVID-19

Photo: Twitter/@AzharAli_

New Delhi: Pakistan Test skipper Azhar Ali on Tuesday (April 28, 2020) announced that he will auction his jersey and a cricket bat to raise funds for the coronavirus relief. The right-handed batsman revealed that the jersey is from the famous 2017 Champions Trophy final which Pakistan won in England. The jersey also has autographs from the then Pakistani squad which featured in the showpiece event.

"I put 2 of my closest belongings on auction with a base price of 1 million PKR each to support people suffering due to the ongoing crisis. Auction starts now and will close at 11:59PM May 5, 2020" Ali tweeted.

"The shirt is from 2017 Champions Trophy which we won, it has the signature of all the players who were present in the squad," Ali said in a video posted on Twitter.

"Both these things are close to my heart but if it can be used in the difficult times for the benefit of the people I will be more than happy," he added.

I put 2 of my closest belongings on auction with base price of 1 million PKR each to support People suffering due to ongoing crisis. Auction starts now & will close on 11:59PM 05May20. To place bid, text/whatsapp on +923228485173, or msg on my twitter. pic.twitter.com/7BJviamP88

— Azhar Ali (@AzharAli_) April 28, 2020

Earlier, the Indian skipper Virat Kohli and batsman AB De Villiers had put their kits from the 2016 Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Gujarat Lions on auction to aid the battle against coronavirus.

Indian batsman KL Rahul also raised over Rs 8 lakh by auctioning his signed 2019 World Cup cricket kit to help the vulnerable children.

According to Pakistan's Health Ministry, the country has reported coronavirus 14,079 patients, as Punjab registered 5,640 patients, Sindh 4,956, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 1,984, and Balochistan has over 853 COVID-19 infections.