[caption id="attachment_16157" align="alignnone" width="580"]Auction-pic Manoj Tiwary with the racquet of Leander Paes which he brought for Rs 1.5 lakh at a charity auction organised by xtratime.in[/caption] Kolkata: An amount of Rs 13.66 lakh was raised by auctioning the sports gears of sportsmen to support cancer patient Bapi Majhi and the family of deceased Alip Chakraborty -- both diehard football fans. The racquet was bought at a highest bid by India cricketer Manoj Tiwary. The India A team captain Manoj said," At the age of 42 he is still winning Grand Slams. That speaks volumes of his dedication and love for the sport. I am getting this racquet because I play tennis during time off from cricket. He is an inspiration for me.” The news took Leander by surprise and the ace tennis player called up Manoj and congratulated him. Dr Ves Paes later confirmed via telephone from Mumbai that Leander promised to meet Manoj later in the month of November this year. The auction initiated by xtratime.in website to fund ailing cancer patient and die-hard Mohun Bagan football club fan Bapi Majhi was held in a city hotel on Saturday. The city for the first time witnessed such an auction where the sports fraternity came forward to help two cancer patient’s family, one still fighting and the other late Alip Chakraborti. In two hours of intense bidding 31 items were auctioned and a whopping Rs 13, 66,000 was raised to help the two families fighting the aftermath of the deadly disease. [caption id="attachment_16158" align="alignnone" width="580"]Auction-pic-01 City businessman Namit Bajoria with the football signed by soccer legend Pele. Image Source: xtratime[/caption] The other highlights of the auction were a signed football by legend Pele which was owned by brought by film producer Namit Bajoria at Rs 1, 10,000. Pele's jersey was bought by Mohun Bagaan assistant secretary Srinjoy Bose who bidded for Rs 1 lakh. IPL Pune Franchise owner Sanjeev Goenka got his team player Ajinkya Rahane's India ODI jersey in almost three fold bid. IFA secretary Utpal Ganguly also bided for legendary Indian cricket administrator late Jagmohan Dalmiya's tie which he wore during his term as Asian Cricket Council president. After receiving the tie Mr.Ganguly said, ''Late Dalmiya was instrumental in cricket’s globalization. As a mark of respect and tribute to one of the best sports administrator of our times, I thought of buying this tie.” Mr Ganguly also took the jersey of Indian Football team captain Sunil Chetri duly signed by him. The jersey of former Indian cricketer VVS Laxman was bought by famous Bollywood singer Ash King bidding double the base price. Indian ODI and T-20 captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's wicket keeping gloves was auctioned for Rs 1lakh.    

Leander extends his gratitude to Manoj Tiwary for buying his racquet