BCCI buys Neeraj Chopra's javelin for INR 1.5 crore in 2021 E-auction

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made the winning bid of a staggering INR 1.5 crore for India’s star athlete Neeraj Chopra’s javelin. It was carried out when an e-auction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s collection of mementoes was held in 2021. 

Chopra, who won the gold medal in men’s category of javelin throw in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, presented one of his javelins to the Prime Minister when the latter hosted Indian athletes after the mega sporting event. The javelin was among many items that were presented in the auction, which was held between September and October of 2021.

We are proud we have sporting good of one of India's greatest athletes: BCCI

"BCCI had made the winning bid for Neeraj's javelin. But we also bid for a couple of other collectibles. It (Namami Gange) is a noble cause and the office bearers in BCCI felt that as one of the premier sporting bodies in the country, we had a duty towards the nation," a BCCI official was quoted as saying by The Free Press Journal. 

The Namami Gange Programme, which was launched in 2014, consolidates the efforts to clean and safeguard the Ganga river. And the proceeds of the e-auction had gone to the Namami Gange mission. "As an organisation, we are proud that we have a sporting good of one of India's greatest athletes," the official further said. 

This was not the first time the board was associated with a noble mission as they had earlier contributed INR 51 crore to the PM Cares Fund during the first wave of coronavirus. During the e-auction, fencer Bhavani Devi’s sword received a bid of INR 1.25 crore and paralympic champion Sumit Antil’s javelin was bought for over INR 1 crore.

Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain’s pair of boxing gloves received a bid of INR 91 lakh. The auction had 1,348 mementoes, including sports collectibles, and a total of 8,600 bids were received.