'Autograph hunter' recalls meeting with Shane Warne

Tribune News Service

Deepankar Sharda

Chandigarh, March 5

People die, but their memories remain...

As the world mourns the death of Australian legend Shane Warne, local autograph collector Dharamvir Duggal, who is popularly known as the “autograph hunter”, remembers his meeting with the legendary spinner in Chandigarh.

Duggal, who claims to have a white ball signed by both Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan — a rare piece of collection — had met Warne in 2008. Impressed by his autograph collection, Warne specially gifted him a signed copy of his biography. “I had shown him the autographs of Australian legends Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, Bret Lee and Glenn McGrath. He got very much impressed and appreciated my collection. He specially went to his room, brought a copy of his autobiography and signed it for me,” said Duggal.

He has a collection of 578 autographed bats, white balls and everything related to the sport. “I was devastated after learning about Warne’s untimely death. I took out his signed ball and remembered my meeting with him. Whenever I met him he never asked for my introduction. He remembered our meeting at Sector 10 in Chandigarh,” added Duggal.

His collection of 578 bats include the ones autographed by Brian Lara, Clive Lloyd, Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev, Yuvraj Singh, Sir Garry Sobers, Ramiz Raja, Viv Richards and many others. His autograph collection, more than 3,000 pieces, includes white balls, red balls and small bats.

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