Indian cricketer Farokh Engineer's national cap sold for Rs.57,000

Former Indian cricketer Farokh Engineer's national cap and Rest of the World blazer were auctioned at Sotheby's in London's Bond street earlier this month. The former wicketkeeper batsman's cap fetched £680 (Rs 57,000 approx) and his blazer garnered around £700 (Rs 59,000) at the auction.

Engineer played 46 Tests and five ODIs for the Indian team between 1961 and 1975. The right-hand batsman scored 2611 Test runs and 114 ODI runs at an average of 31.08 and 38 respectively.

The Indian cap that he wore throughout his career and the Rest of the Word blazer which he owned during the Rest of the World vs Australia series in 1971 were auctioned on 7th November by Graham Budd auctions.

Former World Cup winner S Madan Lal's 1974 India blazer was also auctioned and it fetched close to £420 (Rs 35,000 approx). Madan Lal played for India between 1974 and 1987 as a bowling all-rounder. While he was exceptional with the ball, his batting was modest. He played 39 Tests and 67 ODIs for India and finished with a batting average of 22.65 in Tests and 19.1 in ODIs.

Engineer’s national cap(Image credits: mid-day)

However, his bowling records were pretty impressive. He picked up 71 wickets in the 39 Tests that he played at an average of 40.08 and 73 wickets in 67 ODIs with an average of 29.27.

The legendary Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee's baggy green cap fetched the highest amount in the auction and was sold for £7000 (Rs 5.90 lakh).

The officials didn't reveal the names of the buyers citing their organisation's policy. However, Budd said that Farokh Engineer's national cap and the blazer were not bought by an Indian. He claimed that the cap and blazer were previously owned by an England cricketer and it was presented to him by Farokh himself.

Budd also claimed that he was not all surprised by the amount of money spent on Dennis Lillee's baggy green cap as he thought it was due to the Australian cricketer's legacy.

The legendary fast-bowler played 70 Tests and 63 ODIs for the Aussies in the period between 1971 and 1983 and was instrumental in the Aussies’ great run in that time. He picked up 355 Test wickets and 103 ODI wickets at an average of 23.92 and 20.83 respectively.