Pakistan's Afridi buys bat after fake bids halt Bangladesh's charity auction

Multan Sultans's Shahid Afridi (L) makes an appeal for a runout against Peshawar Zalmi's Wahab Riaz (R on ground) during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) Twenty20 cricket match between Multan Sultans and Peshawar Zalmi at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan on February 26, 2020. (AFP)

• Mushfiqur was the second Bangladeshi cricketer to raise coronavirus funds by selling a bat
• Organizers called off the charity auction for coronavirus victims after fake offers sent the price soaring over $50,000

DHAKA: Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has stepped in to buy a bat owned by Bangladesh's Mushfiqur Rahim after a charity auction for coronavirus victims was derailed by fake bids.
Mushfiqur put the bat he used to score Bangladesh's first Test double hundred in 2013 against Sri Lanka up for the highest bidder online this week.
But organizers called off the auction as fake offers sent the price soaring over $50,000, Mushfiqur said.
"Afridi contacted me personally and I sent him a link of the bid," he said in an online forum Friday.
"On May 13 he sent me a letter and offered $20,000. He bought my bat with this money. I am really privileged," he said.
Mushfiqur's management firm said the money would go to a development charity and to help people with coronavirus.
Afridi, who has his own foundation, said his purchase was a good one.
"We are faced with tough times and the need to help the poor is more in these times," he told AFP.
Mushfiqur was the second Bangladeshi cricketer to raise coronavirus funds by selling a bat. Suspended all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan last month got nearly $24,000 for the one he used in the 2019 World Cup.