Dhoni's World Cup winning bat auctioned for Rs 72 lakhs in London

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Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s 2011 World Cup winning bat was auctioned of on Monday for Rs. 72 lakh at London’s Hilton Hotel.

Man of the Match in the finals Dhoni scored 91 runs and hit the winning six to bring millions of smiles and cheers across India on April 2 this year.

The objective of auctioning the bat was to raise funds for the Sakshi Foundation that functions for the benefit of underprivileged children in India. It is run by Dhoni's wife Sakshi

The lucky winner of the celebrated bat was Indian investment group R.K. Global.

India overcame Sri Lanka by six wickets in the final in Mumbai, chasing down a target of 275 for the loss of four wickets with ten balls remaining.

The total collection from the auction on late Monday evening was 450,000 pounds, where Sacha Jafri's Original Artwork also went under the hammer.

Jafri, one of the most celebrated artists of the world, was commissioned to create the official painting to commemorate Dhoni's historic World Cup winning team as well as the greatest batsman of all time - Sachin Tendulkar.

The painting, which includes hand prints and signatures from some of the games’ greatest players, including the likes of Ricky Ponting, Andrew Flintoff, Allan Border and Lasith Malinga, went for 250,000 pounds.

A bound copy of the original script of Bollywood blockbuster 3 Idiots went for 17,500 pounds.

With this, Dhoni launched his charitable foundation, Winning Ways Today for Tomorrow, at the function.

The charity had already been launched in India in March last year and has helped cricket flourish in areas where children hail from poor socio-economic backgrounds.

The event was attended by the Team India, senior officials and owners of IPL franchisees, many former captains and cricketers like Brian Lara.