Warne 106,500, Tendulkar 7,600, Sehwag 1600, Kumble 685

The World Cricket Tsunami Appeal rattled in the moolah like no other cricket charity game has. One of the interesting sidelights was the auction of the shorts players wore during the game. Shane Warne's jersey, unbelievably, rang in a whopping Au$ 140,000 (US$ 106,500 approx). Compare that with, say, Sachin Tendulkar's shirt, which only attracted bids of about Au$ 10,000 (US$ 7600 approx). Is this just a representation of the purchasing power of the Asian market when compared to the West? Or is it that Indians, even those that are incredibly wealthy, don't have a culture of spending on things like memorabilia?

If the jersey auction was an embarrassment, then the auction organised back home in India was downright humiliating. The bat Virender Sehwag used to score 309 against Pakistan at Multan, the highest-ever score by an Indian in Tests, was sold for a mere Rs. 70,000 (US$ 1600 approx), and amazingly, the t-shirt Kumble wore when picking up his 434th Test wicket, to draw level with Kapil Dev at the top of the Indian heap, fetched just Rs. 30,000 (US$ 685 approx).

Could it be that this is because our heroes seem too distant to us in India? Warne was all over the MCG during the tsunami appeal match, signing autographs, talking to the crowd, waving to them, playing games with them. In general, getting the crowd into the game. Kumble, on the other hand, was dead serious about going about his business. Poker-faced, quiet, and deeply committed to cricket, it is not natural for Kumble to indulge in any sort of tomfoolery. Did this, in some way, contribute to fans not willing to fork out as much, even for a good cause, whenn Kumble's record-sealing t-shirt came under the hammer?

Or perhaps it is merely that the match was played in Australia, and attracted mostly local patronage even on an Internet auction. We'll just have to wait for the return charity game, to be held in Asia, to get closer to the answer.