UAE fans get chance to bid at an auction for India’s first ever sports NFT featuring Karthik

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

Cricketer Dinesh Karthik’s last-ball six in the 2018 India-Bangladesh match, the move that won India the Nidahas Trophy that year, is one of recent sporting history’s most iconic moments.

This thrilling event has been captured in the form of India’s first ever sports NFT (non-fungible token), through a partnership with squash player Saurav Ghosal.

Entitled "Six For The Win," the digital art NFT will be available for public auction in October, and is an animated clip that showcases Karthik’s own thoughts as he faced down the opposing team in the game’s final minutes.

Speaking on the creative concept of the NFT, Karthik says, “That incredible experience for the India team, and for every one of our fans, happens to be Youtube’s most-watched sports video in the world. This shows what a precious memory it is for us all, and it was amazing to relive it and share it from my perspective through the process of this collaboration.”

Ghosal and Karthik coordinated with tech partners in New York to produce the digital art, which features Karthik’s voiceover.

Speaking on what this means for the emerging market of NFTs in India, Ghosal says, “We hope that ‘Six For The Win’ will usher in an era of sporting NFTs. It’s very exciting for us to be pioneers in the Indian NFT space itself, which already has huge success in the US.

“We look forward to establishing its presence in the UAE. Non-refundable tokens are stored on a block-chain, like crypt currency, which means they can’t be exchanged or broken down, and you have an accurate history from provenance onwards so that they can’t be counterfeited. There is great potential here for digital art and other forms of memorabilia.”

On ‘Six For The Win’, Ghosal also adds, “Between the unforgettable victory that this NFT celebrates and the distinction it enjoys as India’s very first sports NFT, this is a collector’s dream. We can also expect that its value will appreciate over time, making it a superb investment and we believe day 1 of the auction will determine that growth.

“We are excited about making it available to bidders in the UAE who are keen to explore this fast-growing market.”

The auction will take place online and is open to the public which will be held between Oct.12 to 22. The winning bidder at the auction will also receive the autographed jersey that Karthik was wearing during the Nidahas Trophy match.