Dinesh Karthik’s last-ball six in the 2018 India-Bangladesh match, which earned India the Nidahas Trophy that year, is one of the most famous moments in modern sporting history. Through a collaboration with squash player Saurav Ghosal, this spectacular event has been preserved in the form of India’s first-ever sports NFT (non-fungible token). The animated piece, titled “Six For The Win,” will be offered for public sale in October and features Karthik’s actual thoughts as he faced down the opposing team in the game’s dying minutes.
Also Read| US announces ‘Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team’ to tackle cyberattacks
Karthik expressed his excitement for the art auction. The wicketkeeper-batsman also disclosed that he will be giving away an autographed game jersey to the highest bidder. Karthik provided a preview of the artwork on his official Twitter account and wrote “I’m so pumped about the auction for India’s very first sporting NFT, kicking off today at rarible.com! I’m also giving the top bidder a precious item from my personal collection: the (autographed) jersey I was wearing during the 2018 Nidahas Trophy match!”
Also Read| Crypto transactions surge 641% as DeFi dominates Indian market, says report
Also Read| Let it fly: Elon Musk says US should avoid regulating cryptocurrency market
Dinesh Karthik will soon be offering digital collectibles on Rario, a cricket-based NFT platform. Ankit Wadhwa, founder, and CEO of Rario, told Moneycontrol, “We are bringing moments, videos, images from tournaments endorsed by players themselves. We are creating moment cards that play video on them, player cards, and artefact cards. Moment cards will come from tournament organiser partnership, player cards can come through a partnership with cricket boards and through player partnership. Artefact cards we will add subsequently which would include things like bats, balls.”
Also Read| Bitcoin will be here even if most cryptocurrencies fail
Dinesh Karthik is a professional cricketer from India who is now the vice-captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders. As captain, he also leads the Tamil Nadu Cricket Team. Dinesh Karthik became the fourth Indian batsman to play 300 T20 matches since making his debut for the Indian cricket side in 2004. Dinesh holds the record for the most catches taken as a wicketkeeper in the Indian Premier League, breaking MS Dhoni’s previous mark. Between 2020 and 2021, Karthik worked as a commentator for British Channel Sky Sports, most notably during India’s tour of England.