A GREAT TEAM AND THEIR BAT: Cricketing greats Ian Chappel, Sir Gary Sobers, Asif Iqbal, Ravi Shastri and Tony Greig during the auction of cricket memorabillia in Mumbai on Friday.

MUMBAI, May 16: Well, as celebrity events go, this one too started late. Courtesy the Indian team which strolled in at its own time. This was rather risky considering the guys aren't really entitled to whims after the Carribean debacle.

Anyway, four bats -- one signed by the Indian team, another by the Sri Lankans and the other two bearing the autographs of Sanath Jayasuriya and Aravinda de Silva -- were up for grabs by the poolside at the Oberoi today. Two more were produced later to scoop up a bit more of the take. The proceeds went to the Akanksha Foundation, which works for the welfare of deprived children.

The night of cocktail cricket started with the Sri Lankan team greeting the children of Akanksha. The entrance to the poolside was made to resemble a cricket field and you even had to enter through a giant red cricket ball. The gardens were surrounded with the colourful pictures drawn by the children.

There was a galaxy of cricketing greats mingling among the local jet-set: Sir Gary Sobers, Tony Greig, Zaheer Abbas, Ravi Shastri, and Ian Chappell, the auctioneer for the night.

Eventually, when the Indian cricket team arrived (well over an hour late), one fractious guest murmured, ``Only our team would keep us waiting.''

Sachin Tendulkar looked apprehensive and was not willing to comment on tomorrow's match. But he did say that had it not been for such a good cause he and the boys wouldn't have made an appearance the night before a match.

His Sri Lankan counterpart, Arjuna Ranatunga, agreed: ``The children are the future. We did want to get as much practice as possible. But this such a good cause we made an exception.''

But he hurried out with his boys within half-an-hour of the Indians sauntering in. They headed for a sweat-out under the lights at the Wankhede Stadium.

The night's function was indeed memorable for Mark Mascarenhas -- the man who bought the rights and organised the World Cup last year -- as he released his book My World Cup. He also made the highest bid of Rs 1 lakh to win the bat autographed by the Indian cricket team. The bat was presented to him by Tendulkar.

One of the contributors to the book was Ravi Shastri, who said, ``Who better to write a book than the man behind the cup?'' He, of course, was not going to be bidding for any of the cricket bats as he probably has his very own cherished hitter.

Sir Gary Sobers appeared a lot subdued. Somebody remarked that he had health and financial problems. Sir Gary was even unwilling to give anyone an autograph.

And as usual some of Mumbai's bold and beautiful people were present, including Sir Gary's former flame, Anju Mahendroo. Also seen at the glittering do were Tariq and Anu Ansari, Achala Sachdev, Andrew Carnegie and Vinod Khanna.

And the bat goes to...

And the bat goes to...

The first bat that was auctioned was signed by the Indian team. It was bought for Rs 1 lakh by Mark Mascarenhas.

The second bat was the Golden Greats bat signed by the World Tel commentary team which included Tony Greig, Ritchie Benaud, Asif Iqbal, Ravi Shastri and others.

Surprisingly, this bat went for only Rs 65,000. It was bought by Victor Fernandes, a member on the board of trustees of Akanksha. The third bat was signed by the Sri Lankan team. The bat carried the number 241, exactly the number of runs scored by Sri Lankans in the final. It fetched the highest price of Rs 1,25,000. Also included was the scorecard of the team.

The fourth bat was signed by Sanath Jayasuriya, the World Cup's Man of the Series. That went for a paltry Rs 32,500. The next bat was signed by Sri Lankan captain Aravinda de Silva and fetched Rs 55,000. The final bat was one signed again by the Sri Lankan team. This went for 42,000 and was again purchased by Mascarenhas.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.